
AMERICAN 




Class H SltZ, 

Book 3_ 

fapvTighf N° 'M & 

C.QEKRIGHT DEPOSm l§'f 



A SCHOOL HISTORY 
OF THE GREAT WAR 



BY 

ALBERT E. McKINLEY, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 

CHARLES A. COULOMB, Ph.D. 

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA 
AND 

ARMAND J. GERSON, Ph.D. 

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA 




AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

BOSTON ATLANTA 



111? 



Copyright, 1018, 1919, by 

Albert E. McKinley, Charles A. Coulomb, 

and Armand J. Gerson 



GREAT WAR 
E. P. -9 



@CI.A53fU4 6 



OCT I i I 



< \ 



PREFACE 

This brief history of the world's greatest war was 
prepared upon the suggestion of the National Board 
for Historical Service. Its purpose is to expand into 
an historical narrative the outline of the study of the 
war which the authors prepared for the Board and which 
was published by the United States Bureau of Education 
as Teachers' Leaflet No. 4, in August, 1918. The ar- 
rangement of chapters and the choice of topics have 
been largely determined by the various headings in the 
outline for the course in grades seven and eight. 

The authors trust that the simple presentation here 
given may aid in developing a national comprehension 
of the issues involved in the war; and they hope it may 
play some part in preparing the American people for 
the solution of the great problems which lie immediately 
before us. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Europe Before the Great War 5 

II. Why Germany Wanted War 27 

III. German Militarism 34 

IV. International Law and the Hague Conferences 38 
V. International Jealousies and Alliances. ... 48 

VI. The Balkan States 59 

VII. The Beginnings of the Great War 67 

VIII. The War in 1914 77 

IX. The War in 191 5 95 

X. The War in 1916 107 

XL The War in 1917 118 

XII. The War in 1918 135 

XIII. The United States in the War 152 

XIV. Results of the War 167 

Chronology — Principal Events of the War 181 

Index 190 



A School History of the 
Great War 

CHAPTER I 

EUROPE BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 

To understand the Great War it is not sufficient 
to read the daily happenings of military and political 
events as they are told in newspapers and magazines. 
We must go back of the facts of to-day and find in 
national history and personal ambition the causes of the 
great struggle. Years of preparation were necessary 
before German military leaders could convert a nation 
to their views, or get ready the men, munitions, and 
transportation for the war they wanted. Conflicts of 
races for hundreds of years have made the southeastern 
part of Europe a firebrand in international affairs. 
The course of the Russian revolution has been deter- 
mined largely by the history of the Russian people and 
of the Russian rulers during the past two centuries. 
The entrance of England and Italy into the war against 
Germany was in each case brought about by causes 
which came into existence long before August, 19 14. 
A person who understands, even in part, the causes of 

5 




& AT V% 7 X V 



Europe Before the Great War 7 

this great contest, will be in a better position to realize 
why America entered the war and what our nation was 
fighting for. And better yet, he will be more ready to 
take part in settling the many problems of peace which 
must come after the war. For these reasons, the first 
few chapters of this book are devoted to a study of the 
important facts of recent European history. 

A Hundred Years Ago. — It is remarkable that al- 
most exactly a century before this great world war, 
Europe was engaged in a somewhat similar struggle 
to prevent an ambitious French general, Napoleon 
Bonaparte, from becoming the ruler of all that conti- 
nent, and of America as well. He had conquered or 
intimidated nearly all the states of Europe — Austria, 
Prussia, Russia, Spain, etc. — except Great Britain. 
He once planned a great settlement on the Mississippi 
River, and so alarmed President Jefferson that the 
latter said the United States might be compelled to 
" marry themselves to the British fleet and nation." 
But England's navy kept control of the seas; Napo- 
leon's colony in North America was never founded; 
and at last the peoples of Europe rose against their 
conqueror, and in the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815, 
finally overthrew him. 

Europe Since 1815. — After the downfall of Napo- 
leon the rulers of Europe met in conference at Vienna 
and sought to restore conditions as they had been before 
the war. They were particularly anxious that the 
great masses of the people in their several nations should 



8 Europe Before the Great War 

continue to respect what was termed " the divine right 
of kings to rule over their subjects." They did not, 
except in Great Britain, believe in representative gov- 
ernments. They feared free speech and independent 
newspapers and liberal educational institutions. They 
hated all kinds of popular movements by which the 
inhabitants of any country might throw off the mon- 
arch's yoke and secure a share in their own government. 
For over thirty years the " Holy Allies," — the name 
applied to the monarchs of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, 
— succeeded tolerably well in keeping the peoples in 
subjection. But they had many difficulties to face, 
and after 1848 their policy was largely given up. 

Democratic Movements. — During the nineteenth 
century the people of Europe were restive under the 
rule of kings, and gradually governments controlled in 
greater or less degree by the people were established. 
Almost every decade saw popular uprisings in some of 
the European states. About 1820 insurrections oc- 
curred in Greece, in Spain, and in southern Italy; and 
the Spanish American colonies revolted from the mother 
country. In 1830 popular uprisings took place in 
France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and other places. 
In 1848 a far more serious movement occurred, which 
overthrew the French monarchy and established a 
republic. From France the flame of liberty lighted 
fires of insurrection in Germany, Austria, Poland, and 
Italy. Similar attempts were made at later times. As 
a result of these popular uprisings and of the growing 



Political Development 9 

education of all classes of the people, manhood suffrage 
and representative institutions were established in most 
of the European states. 

National Aspirations. — The Holy Allies had refused 
to recognize the right of nations to independent exist- 
ence. They had bartered peoples and provinces " as 
if they were chattels and pawns in a game." But when 
the peoples tried to found democratic governments, 
they often discovered that the quickest and surest way 
was to unite under one government all who belonged to 
a given nationality. Thus the last hundred years in 
Europe has witnessed the erection of a number of new 
national states created by throwing off the yoke of 
some foreign ruler. Among the new nations thus 
established were (1) Belgium, freed from the kingdom 
of Holland; (2) Greece, Serbia, Roumania, Bulgaria, 
and Albania, freed from Turkish rule; (3) Italy, united 
out of territories controlled by petty sovereigns and 
Austrian rulers; (4) Norway, separated from Sweden. 
The same period saw also the unification of a number of 
German states into the German Empire. But during 
this time several races were unsuccessful in obtaining 
independence, among which we may note the Poles 
(in Russia, Prussia, and Austria), the Czechs (checks), 
or Bohemians (in northern Austria), the Finns (in the 
northwestern part of the Russian Empire), and the 
Slavic people in the southern part of Austria-Hungary. 

Industrial Development. — The nineteenth century 
was not only a period of political change in Europe. It 



io Europe Before the Great War 

was also a time of great changes in the general welfare 
of the people. It witnessed a remarkable alteration 
in everyday employments and habits. In 1800 a great 
part of the population was engaged in agriculture. 
Manufacturing and commerce were looked upon as of 
minor importance. The goods that were produced 
were made by hand labor in the workman's own home. 
Beginning first in England about 1750 and extending 
to the Continent between 1820 and i860, there came 
a great industrial change. The steam engine was ap- 
plied to spinning, weaving, and countless other opera- 
tions which previously had been performed by hand. 
Steam engines could not of course be installed in every 
small cottage; hence a number of machines were put 
in one factory to be run by one steam engine. The 
workers left their small huts and gardens in the country 
and came to live in towns and cities. After the steam 
engine came steam transportation on land and water. 
Then followed an enormous demand for coal, iron, steel, 
and other metals. More goods could be produced in 
the factories than were needed for the people at home. 
Hence arose more extended commerce and the search 
for foreign markets. 

Colonial Expansion. — In the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, Spain, Portugal, France, and England 
settled the American continents and parts of Asia. By 
a series of wars in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies the Dutch secured part of the possessions of 
Spain and Portugal; and England obtained almost all 



Colonial Expansion n 

of the French colonial territories. In the eighteenth 
century the thirteen English colonies on the Atlantic 
seaboard made good their independence; and in the 
nineteenth, Spain lost all of her vast possessions in 
America. During the early nineteenth century, Great 
Britain, in spite of the loss of the thirteen colonies, was 
by far the most successful colonizing country, and her 
possessions were to be found in Canada, India, the East 
and West Indies, Australia, and Africa. 

Leaders of other nations in Europe thought these 
colonies of Great Britain were the cause of her wealth 
and prosperity. Naturally they too tried to found 
colonies in those parts of the world not occupied by 
Europeans. They hoped by this means to extend their 
power, to find homes for their surplus population, and 
to obtain markets for their new manufactured goods. 
Thus Africa was parceled out among France, Germany, 
Great Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. 
The islands of the Pacific were seized in the same manner. 
Proposals for a partition of China were made by Ger- 
many, Russia, Japan, France, and Great Britain; and 
if it had not been for the American demands for the 
" open door of trade " and for the " territorial integrity " 
of China, that nation probably would have shared the 
fate of Africa. The noteworthy fact about this rivalry 
for colonies is that almost the entire world, except 
China and Japan, came under the domination of Euro- 
peans and their descendants. 

Having noted a few general features of European 



12 Europe Before the Great War 

history during the nineteenth century, we shall now 
take up in turn each of the more important countries. 

Germany. — After the overthrow of Napoleon, a 
German Confederation was formed. This comprised 
thirty-nine states which were bound to each other by 
a very weak tie. The union was not so strong even as 
that in our own country under the Articles of Confedera- 
tion. But there were two states in the German Con- 
federation which were far stronger than any of the 
others; these were Austria and Prussia. Austria had 
been a great power in German and European affairs for 
centuries; but her rulers were now incompetent and 
corrupt. Prussia, on the other hand, was an upstart, 
whose strength lay in universal military service. As 
the century progressed, the influence of Prussia became 
greater; and the jealousy of Austria grew proportion- 
ately. Bismarck, the Prussian prime minister, adopted 
a policy of " blood and iron." By this he meant that 
Prussia would attain the objects of her ambition by 
means of war. Under his guidance she would intim- 
idate or conquer the other German states and force 
them into trade and commercial agreements, or annex 
their territory to that of Prussia. 

Bismarck looked for success only to the army. With 
the king back of him, he defied the people's representa- 
tives, ignored the Prussian constitution, and purposely 
picked quarrels with his neighbors. In 1866, in a brief 
war of seven weeks, Austria was hopelessly defeated 
and forced to retire from the German Confederation. 



Germany 13 

In 1870, when he felt sure of his military preparations, 
Bismarck altered a telegram and thus brought on a 
war with France. The Franco-Prussian War lasted 
only a few months; but in that time the French were 
thoroughly defeated. Many important results fol- 
lowed the war: (1) The German states, influenced by 
the patriotic excitement of a successful war, founded 
the German Empire, with Prussia in the leading posi- 
tion, and the Prussian king as German emperor or 
" Kaiser." (2) A huge indemnity of one billion dollars 
was exacted by Prussia from France, and this money, 
deposited in the German banks and loaned to individuals, 
played a large part in expanding the manufactures 
and commerce of Germany. (3) Prussia took away 
from France, against the wishes of the inhabitants, 
the provinces called Alsace-Lorraine. This " wrong 
done to France," as President Wilson has said, " un- 
settled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years." 
(4) The French people carried through a revolution 
and established a republic — for the third time in 
their history — which has continued down to the 
present. 

After 1870 Germany made remarkable material prog- 
ress. By 191 1 her population had grown from 41,000,000 
to 65,000,000. Her coal and iron production in 191 1 
was eight times as much as in 1871. In wealth, com- 
merce, coal production, and textile industries, among 
European countries, Germany was second only to 
Great Britain; while in the production of iron and 



14 Europe Before the Great War 

steel Germany had passed Great Britain and was 
second only to the United States. 

But this great industrial and commercial advance 
was not accompanied with a corresponding liberality 
in government. The constitution of the German 
Empire gave very large powers to the emperor, and 
very little power to the representatives of the people. 
Prussia, the dominant state in the empire, had an anti- 
quated system of voting which rated men's votes ac- 
cording to the taxes they paid, and placed political 
power in the hands of a small number of capital- 
ists and wealthy landowners, especially the Junkers 
(yoong'kerz) , or Prussian nobles. The educational 
system, while giving a rudimentary education to all, 
was really designed to keep large masses of the people 
subject to the military group, the government officials, 
and the capitalists. Blind devotion to the emperor 
and belief in the necessity of future war in order to 
increase German prosperity, were widely taught. The 
"mailed fist" was clenched, and "the shining sword" 
rattled in the scabbard whenever Germany thought the 
other nations of Europe showed her a lack of respect. 
Enormous preparations for war were made in order that 
Germany might gain from her neighbors the " place 
in the sun " which she was determined upon. Other 
nations were to be pushed aside or be broken to 
pieces in order that the German "super-men" might 
enjoy all that they wished of this world's goods and 
possessions. 



Austria-Hungary 1 5 

Austria-Hungary. — The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 
in 1 910 had a population of 49,000,000, made up of 
peoples and races who spoke different languages and 
had different customs, habits, and ideals. These races, 
instead of being brought under unifying influences as 
foreigners are in the United States, had for centuries 
retained their peculiarities. Germans comprised 24 per 
cent of the total population; Hungarians, 20 per cent; 
Slavic races (including Bohemians, Poles, South Slavs, 
and others), 45 per cent; Roumanians, over 6 per 
cent; and Italians less than 2 per cent. The Germans 
and Hungarians, although only a minority of the total 
population, had long exercised political control over 
the others and by repressive measures had tried to 
stamp out their schools, newspapers, and languages. 
Unrest was continuous during the nineteenth century; 
and the rise of the independent states of Serbia, Rou- 
mania, and Bulgaria tended to make the Slavic and 
Roumanian inhabitants of Austria-Hungary dissatisfied 
with their own position. 

After 18 1 5 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy con- 
tinued under the rule of the royal family of Hapsburgs, 
whose proud history extends back to the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Austria (but not Hungary) was part of the Ger- 
man Confederation, and her representative had the 
right of presiding at all meetings of the confederation. 
Between 181 5 and 1848 the Austrian emperor and his 
prime minister were the leaders in opposition to popular 
government and national aspirations. But in 1848 a 



1 6 Europe Before the Great War 

serious uprising took place, and it seemed for a time 
that the diverse peoples would fly apart from each other 
and establish separate states. The emperor abdicated 
and his prime minister fled to England. Francis Joseph, 
the young heir to the throne, with the aid of experienced 
military leaders succeeded in suppressing the rebellion. 
For sixty-eight years (i 848-1 91 6) he was personally 
popular and held together the composite state. 

In 1866 Austria was driven out of the German Con- 
federation by Prussia. Seven years earlier she had 
lost most of her Italian possessions. Thereafter her 
interests and ambitions lay to the southeast; and she 
bent her energies to extend her territory, influence, and 
commerce into the Balkan region. A semblance of 
popular government was established in Austria and in 
Hungary, which were separated from each other in 
ordinary affairs, but continued under the same mon- 
arch. In each country, however, the suffrage and 
elections were so juggled that the ruling minority, of 
Germans in Austria and of Hungarians in Hungary, 
was enabled to keep the majority in subjection. 

Austria-Hungary has not progressed as rapidly in 
industry and commerce as the countries to the north 
and west of her. Her life is still largely agricultural, 
and cultivation is often conducted by primitive methods. 
Before the war her wealth per person was only $500, 
as compared with $1843 i n the United States, $1849 m 
Great Britain, $1250 in France, and $1230 in Germany. 
She possessed only one good seaport, Trieste (tri-est'), 



Italy 17 

and this partly explained her desire to obtain access to 
the Black Sea and the iEgean Sea. About half of her 
foreign trade was carried on with Germany. The low 
standards of national wealth and production made the 
raising of taxes a difficult matter. The government 
had a serious struggle to obtain the funds for a large 
military and naval program. 

Italy. — For a thousand years before 1870 there was 
no single government for the entire Italian peninsula. 
Although the people were mainly of one race, their 
territory was divided into small states ruled by despotic 
princes, who were sometimes of Italian families, but 
more often were foreigners — Greeks, Germans, French, 
Spanish, and Austrians. The Pope, head of the Roman 
Catholic Church, governed nearly one third of the land. 
This condition continued after 181 5. But during the 
nineteenth century the Italians began to realize that 
they belonged to one race. They saw that the rule of 
foreigners was opposed to the national welfare. 

By 1870 the union of all Italy into one kingdom was 
completed. In this work three great men participated, 
as well as many lesser patriots. The first was Garibal'di, 
a man of intense courage and patriotism. He aroused 
the young men of Italy to the need of national union 
and the expulsion of the foreigners. For over thirty 
years he was engaged in various military expeditions 
which aided greatly in the establishment of the national 
union. The second leader was of an entirely different 
character. Count Cavour (ka-voor') was a statesman. 



1 8 Europe Before the Great War 

a politician, a deep student of European history, and a 
man of great tact. He, too, wished for a united Italy, 
but he believed union could not be gained without 
foreign assistance. By most skillful means he secured 
the support of France and of England, while at the same 
time he used Garibaldi and his revolutionists. He had 
succeeded, at the time of his death in 1861, in bringing 
together all of Italy except Rome and Venice. He won 
for the new Italian kingdom a place among the great 
nations of Europe. 

The third great Italian was Victor Emman'uel, king 
of Sardinia. He approved of a limited monarchy, like 
that of England, instead of the corrupt despotisms which 
existed in most of the Italian peninsula. He knew 
how to use men like Cavour and Garibaldi to achieve 
the national ambitions. By a popular vote in each 
part of Italy Victor Emmanuel was accepted as king of 
the united nation. The country was not ready for a 
republic; but Victor Emmanuel proved a wise national 
leader, willing to reign according to a written consti- 
tution under which the people's representatives had 
the determining voice in the government. In 1870 
the king entered Rome and early the next year pro- 
claimed the city to be the capital of Italy. 

Belgium. — The country we now know as Belgium 
has had a very checkered history. At one time or 
another it has been controlled by German, French, 
Spanish, and Austrian rulers. At the opening of the 
nineteenth century it was annexed to the kingdom of 



France 19 

Holland (181 5). But a revolt took place in 1830, and 
the Belgians separated from the Dutch and chose a 
king for themselves. Their constitution declares that 
the government is a " constitutional, representative, 
and hereditary monarchy." The government is largely 
in the control of the people or their representatives. 
There is one voter for every five persons in the popu- 
lation, nearly the same proportion as in the United 
States. In 1839 the principal states of Europe agreed 
to recognize Belgium's independence, and in case of 
war among themselves to treat her territory as neutral 
land, not to be invaded. This treaty was signed by 
Prussia as well as by Austria, France, Great Britain, 
and Russia. The treaty was again acknowledged by 
Prussia in 1870. It was in violation of these treaties, 
as we shall see, that Prussian and other German troops 
invaded Belgium on August 4, 19 14. 

France. — In 1789 France entered upon a period of 
revolution. The old monarchy was shortly over- 
thrown, and with it went aristocracy and all the inequali- 
ties of the Middle Ages. A republic, however, did not 
long endure; and Napoleon Bonaparte used his posi- 
tion as a successful general to establish a new monarchy 
called the French Empire. After Napoleon's downfall, 
the allied monarchs of Europe restored the old line of 
kings in France. But the country had outgrown des- 
potism. A revolution in 1830 deposed one king and 
set up another who was ready to rule under the terms 
of a constitution. In 1848 this monarchy was dis- 



20 Europe Before the Great War 

placed and the second French republic was estab- 
lished. But again a Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, 
seized the government and established a second em- 
pire, calling himself Napoleon III. He aped the ways 
of his great predecessor and tried by foreign conquest 
or annexation in Africa, Italy, and Mexico to dazzle 
the French people. But he was never popular, and his 
reign closed in the defeat and disgrace of the Franco- 
Prussian War (1870-71), for which he was partly re- 
sponsible. 

The third French republic was proclaimed in 1870 
and is the present government of the country. Under 
the constitution there is a senate, the members of which 
are elected for nine years, and a lower house, elected 
for four years. The president is chosen by these two 
houses of the legislature for a term of seven years. No 
member of the old royal families may become president 
of the republic. The president of France does not 
possess nearly so much power as the president of the 
United States. Many of the executive duties are per- 
formed by the premier, or prime minister, and other 
cabinet ministers. 

Republican France has become one of the great 
nations of the world, and its democratic institutions are 
firmly rooted in the hearts of the people. It has been 
compelled to face German militarism by erecting a 
system of universal military training. The patriotism 
and self-sacrifice of all classes during the Great War 
have been beyond praise. . 



Great Britain si 

Great Britain. — During the nineteenth century Great 
Britain did not experience any of the sudden revolu- 
tions which appeared in nearly every other country of 
Europe. For centuries England, Scotland, and Ire- 
land had possessed representative institutions. When 
reforms were needed, they were adopted gradually, by 
the natural process of lawmaking, instead of resulting 
from rebellion and revolt. In this way Great Britain 
had been changed from an aristocratic government to 
one founded on democratic principles. By 1884 the 
suffrage was nearly as extensive as in the United States. 
Parliament became as truly representative of the peo- 
ple's will as our American Congress. Far-reaching 
social reforms were adopted which advanced the general 
welfare. Among these reforms were acts for improv- 
ing housing conditions, regulating hours of labor and 
use of machinery in factories, and establishing a national 
insurance system, old-age pensions, and compensation 
to injured workmen. 

Great Britain was the first nation to experience the 
advantages and disadvantages of the new age of coal 
and iron, and the new methods of factory production. 
Her wealth and commerce grew at a rapid rate, and 
she invested her profits in enterprises in many parts of 
the world. The factory system drew so many workers 
from the farms, that Great Britain no longer raised 
sufficient food for her population. She became depend- 
ent upon the United States, Australia, South America, 
and other lands for wheat, meat, and other necessaries 



22 Europe Before the Great War 

of life. Her merchant vessels were to be found in all 
parts of the world; and her navy was increased from 
year to year to protect her commerce and colonies. 
From now on it became evident that England's existence 
depended upon her ships. If in time of war she lost 
control of the seas the enemy could starve her into 
submission. Hence during the nineteenth century 
Great Britain's policy was to maintain a fleet stronger 
than that of any possible combination against her. 

England's colonial system had been developed into a 
great empire. Principles of English liberty and repre- 
sentative government were carried by Britishers to 
many parts of the world. The American Revolution 
showed the mother country that Englishmen would not 
brook oppression even by their own king and parlia- 
ment. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries 
England adopted the policy of erecting her colonies 
into self-governing communities. Thus the separate 
colonies in Canada, in Australia, and in South Africa 
were grouped in each case into a federal government, 
somewhat similar to that of the United States, and 
three great British democracies were formed within 
the boundaries of the empire. So successful has been 
the British system of colonial government that there 
was virtually no question of loyalty during the Great 
War. All parts of the dominions have contributed 
in men and money to the common cause, and fre- 
quent imperial war conferences have been held in 
London. In these conferences representatives from 



Turkey and the Balkans 23 

the colonies and the mother country have joined in the 
discussion of important imperial questions. 

Turkey and the Balkans. — In 1453 the Turks cap- 
tured Constantinople. Thereafter their power was 
rapidly extended in southeastern Europe and for several 
centuries they were the dominant power in the Balkan 
peninsula. During this time they overran Hungary 
and invaded Austria up to the walls of Vienna. They 
subjugated Greece and all the lands now included in 
Serbia, Roumania, Bulgaria, Albania, as well as a 
number of near-by Austrian, Hungarian, and Russian 
provinces. 

Many diverse races were included within the Turkish 
dominions. They differed among themselves in lan- 
guage, religion, and culture. The Turks were Mo- 
hammedans, while their subject peoples in Europe were 
mainly Christians belonging to the Greek Orthodox 
Church. 

First driven out of Hungary and Russia during the 
eighteenth century, the Turks lost nearly all their 
European possessions in the nineteenth and early 
twentieth centuries. The subject peoples had kept 
their national traditions and customs and from time 
to time they aimed at independence. The Turkish 
rule was oppressive and at times its methods were 
barbarous. If there had been no jealousies among the 
great European powers, it is probable that Russia 
would have occupied Constantinople long ago. The 
other powers, fearing this might make Russia too strong, 



24 Europe Before the Great War 

interfered on several occasions to prevent such an 
occupation. But the powers could not prevent the 
smaller nationalities from attaining their independence 
from Turkey. Greece, Serbia, Roumania, Bulgaria, 
and Albania were freed from the rule of the " unspeak- 
able Turk " and erected into independent kingdoms at 
various times between 1829 and 19 13. Of her great 
empire in Europe, Turkey retained, at the outbreak 
of the Great War, an area of less than 11,000 square 
miles (less than the area of the state of Maryland), 
and a population of 1,890,000, which was almost alto- 
gether resident in the two cities of Constantinople and 
Adrianople. 

Russia. — In 19 14 Russia was an empire occupying 
one seventh of the land area of the world and inhabited 
by about 180,000,000 people. During the nineteenth 
century the country was ruled by absolute monarchs 
called czars, under whom political and social conditions 
were corrupt and oppressive. However, some progress 
was made during the century. Serfdom or slavery was 
abolished from 1861 to 1866; restraints upon news- 
papers, publishers, and schools were partly withdrawn. 
Natural resources were developed, factories established, 
and railroads built. But these measures only served 
to whet the appetite of the people for more liberal 
government. The activities of revolutionists and re- 
formers were met by most severe measures on the 
part of the government. Thousands were transported 
to Siberia and many were executed. Even as late as 



Russia 25 

1903 five thousand persons were imprisoned, exiled, 
or executed for political activity against the Czar's 
government. An attempt of the people to force a 
representative government upon the Czar failed after 
a seeming success in 1 905-1906; for the Duma, or legis- 
lative assembly, then created was given little power. 

Russia has not been fortunate in her relations with 
the neighboring states. Her great ambition, the occu- 
pation of Constantinople, was repeatedly balked by 
other countries. In an attempt to obtain an ice-free 
harbor on the Pacific, Russia brought on the Russo- 
Japanese War of 1 904- 1 905, in which she was disas- 
trously defeated. In another direction Russia was more 
successful. She posed as the protector of the Slavic 
provinces under Turkish rule and saw the day when 
nearly all of them were free. 

Russia is a country of vast territory, enormous 
population, and unbounded natural resources. But 
before the war it had no experience in self-government. 
Its land and mineral resources were not used for 
national purposes. A small governing class, with the 
Czar at the head, controlled its tremendous powers and 
wealth. Naturally, when an insurrection is successful 
against such a government, the people lose all self- 
control and go to great extremes. Liberty and self- 
government succeed only when all the people are 
willing to abide by the laws made by the majority. 
May this time soon come for Russia ! 



26 Europe Before the Great War 

Suggestions for Study. — i. Look up facts concerning Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, Gladstone, Bismarck, Cavour, Garibaldi, Victor 
Emmanuel I. 2. On outline maps of the world show the prin- 
cipal colonial possessions of Great Britain, France, Germany, 
Italy, Belgium, and Holland. 3. Show on an outline map of 
Europe the location of peoples that had not attained to national 
independence before 1914. 4. Compare the size and population 
of the European countries with your own state in the American 
Union. 5. How far did the people in European countries possess 
a share in their government in 1914? 6. Look up in detail the 
government of Germany. 

References. — For facts such as those mentioned above see 
the World Almanac, the Statesman's Yearbook, and any good 
encyclopedia. For Germany, see Hazen, The Government of 
Germany, published by the Committee on Public Information, 
Washington, D. C. 1 Reference may also be made to Harding's 
New Medieval and Modem History or to other histories of 
Europe. 

1 Hereafter the publications of the Committee on Public Informa- 
tion are indicated as follows: (C. P. I.). 



CHAPTER II 

WHY GERMANY WANTED WAR 

It would be impossible to make a list of all the causes 
which led Germany from time to time to take such 
action as would tend to force war on one or another 
of the nations of Europe. For besides questions of 
national honor or of national rights there were the 
writings of German philosophers, historians, and scien- 
tists, a great majority of whom maintained that war 
was a necessity if men were to continue to live in large 
groups or societies. These writers were chiefly Prus- 
sian, but Prussia, including more than half of Germany, 
dominated the rest of the empire through the organi- 
zation of its government. The following paragraphs 
present what seem to be the chief reasons why Ger- 
many, and especially Prussia, wanted war. 

War as a Profitable Business. — According to those 
German writers there are two results from a successful 
war. First, the victors take more or less territory from 
the vanquished; second, the victors may demand a 
large sum of money, called an indemnity, from the de- 
feated people, who thus have to pay their conquerors 
for having taken the trouble to defeat them. 

In both of these instances the result is advantageous 
to the winner of the war, and particularly to the gov- 
erning class of that nation. Through the taxes from 

27 



28 Why Germany Wanted War 

the new territory more money flows into the national 
treasury, and a great many new officials must be 
appointed. These, of course, for many years are ap- 
pointed by the rulers of the victorious nation. Besides 
this not only do we find new markets opened up for the 
manufacturers and merchants, but the conquered ter- 
ritory frequently contains great stores of raw materials. 
In both cases the goods can now pass to and fro without 
the drawbacks of possible embargoes or import taxes 
which interfere with the freedom of trade. This is 
well illustrated by the results of the seizure of part of 
Lorraine by Germany from France in 1870. Lorraine 
contains great stores of coal and iron ore. These 
Germany wanted. So that part of Lorraine was de- 
manded which would give to Germany rich mines of 
coal and iron. Some other ore deposits, which could 
not be easily utilized, she left to France. Not long 
afterwards a new process for making iron was dis- 
covered which made the French deposits more valuable 
than those Germany had taken. Undoubtedly one of 
the reasons for the present war was that Germany 
wished to increase her national wealth by seizing the 
iron mines that had become so valuable. 

Many times before 1870 the Prussians had made 
large gains, in the way of increased territory and 
prestige, by means of war. It was the boast of many 
Prussian kings that each one of them had added to the 
lands over which he ruled. In almost every instance 
this increase was due to a successful war, enabling the 



Land and Indemnity 29 

king of Prussia to seize territory which did not belong 
to him. 

The indemnity which may be collected from a con- 
quered nation is also a source of profit to the conqueror. 
The money is deposited by the government in banks, 
which thus have large sums ready to lend to manufac- 
turers and merchants who wish to increase their busi- 
ness. The result of this is a great stimulation of 
-manufactures and commerce. In the case of Germany, 
the effect on industry of the $1,000,000,000 of indemnity 
which she received from France following the Franco- 
Prussian war was so great that Germany was soon manu- 
facturing more than her people could consume, and 
German commercial agents spread all over the globe 
seeking to find profitable customers for the surplus. 

On the other hand, the German leaders have failed 
to realize that the destruction of men and materials in 
war is always a great national loss. In the case of a 
long war, the losses from these causes may, even for 
the victors, overbalance any advantage which may 
be secured in the way of territory or money from the 
vanquished nation. 

Germany Wanted Land from her Neighbors. — The 
present war was largely the result of Germany's desire 
to secure territory. The territory that was particu- 
larly wanted was in a number of different places. 

In the first place, Germany coveted the rest of the 
iron mines which she had made the mistake (from her 
point of view) of letting France keep in 1870. These 



30 Why Germany Wanted War 

are located along the northeast frontier of France, 
about half a dozen miles from the boundary. Ger- 
many wanted also the greater part of Belgium, because 
it has valuable iron ore deposits, and especially because 
it has great deposits of coal. It has been said that 
without these mines of Belgian coal and of French iron, 
which Germany seized at the very beginning of the war, 
she would soon have had to give up the fight. 

In the second place, Germany's only ports are on 
the shallow north coast, and the channels are intricate 
and difficult of navigation. These ports are incon- 
veniently situated for exports from Germany's chief 
manufacturing region, the lower Rhine valley. The 
best ports for western Germany are Antwerp, in Bel- 
gium, and Rotterdam, in Holland. Germany wanted 
a port toward the west through which she could more 
conveniently reach her customers in North and South 
America and elsewhere. It is interesting to notice 
that the river Scheldt (skelt), on which Antwerp is 
situated, passes through Holland on its way to the 
sea. Even if Germany secured Belgium this would 
not give her control of the Antwerp outlet nor would 
it give her Rotterdam. It is certain that eventual 
domination of Holland was part of Germany's plan. 

Germany wanted that part of Russia which was 
along the Baltic Sea. The part of Germany adjoining 
this, called East Prussia, is the stronghold of the Prus- 
sian Junkers, or landed nobility. These people already 
owned great estates in the Baltic provinces of Russia. 



Colonial Expansion 31 

Germany wished to govern this German-owned land 
and provide a place to which her surplus population 
could emigrate and still be in German territory. The 
Junkers were especially anxious for this to come about 
as it would greatly increase their power in Germany. 

" Pan-Germanists " is the name given to a group of 
German leaders who aimed especially to bring all Ger- 
man-speaking peoples into the German Empire. In 
general, however, the same leaders aimed to bring under 
German control all the districts that have been men- 
tioned above, together with the Balkan states and other 
lands. 

Germany Wanted More Colonies. — Germany's com- 
mercial expansion came after most of the world had been 
divided among the other nations. She thought she 
must have more colonies to provide her with raw mate- 
rials and to give her markets for some of her surplus 
manufactures. Other reasons why Germany wanted 
colonies were that she might obtain more food, and 
that she might establish coaling stations for her navy, 
so that it could protect her commerce, especially her 
food-carrying ships. As the war has shown, Germany 
can hardly produce a full supply of food for her own 
people. 

The easiest way to get colonies seemed to be by mak- 
ing war against some nation that already possessed 
them, in the hope that a victorious Germany could 
seize the colonies she desired. On the other hand, 
without war, she had gained some large colonies and 



32 



Why Germany Wanted War 



was assured of others in Africa, and she had secured a 
prevailing influence over the immense domains of Turkey 
in Asia. By 19 14 the Germans had more than half 
completed a railroad through Turkey to the Persian 
Gulf, and expected soon to dominate the eastern trade 
by the Berlin-Bagdad route. 

Germany Wanted "a Place in the Sun." — Ger- 
many was acknowledged to be the strongest nation in 

continental Europe. 
Her position as a 
world power, how- 
ever, was disputed 
by Great Britain, 
both by reason of 
the latter's control 
of the sea through 
her enormous fleet, 
and by reason of 
Great Britain's nu- 
merous colonies all 
over the world. It 
was galling to Ger- 
man pride to have 
to coal her ships at 
English coaling stations. She wanted stations of her 
own. By bringing on a war that would humble France 
to the dust and make Belgium a part of Germany, thus 
giving her a chance to seize the colonies of France and 
Belgium, Germany would at once attain a position in 




World Power 33 

the world's affairs which would enable her to challenge 
the power of any nation on earth. 

The Survival of the Fittest. — German thinkers car- 
ried to an extreme the theory of the survival of the 
fittest. This doctrine teaches that all living things have 
reached their present forms through a gradual develop- 
ment of those qualities which best fit them to live in 
their present surroundings. Those that are best adapted 
live on, and produce a new generation that are also well 
fitted to survive. Those that are not fitted to their 
surroundings soon give up the struggle and die. The 
Germans applied this same belief to nations, and claimed 
that only those nations survived that could successfully 
meet world conditions. They believed that war was 
an inevitable world condition, and that that nation 
would survive that was best able to fight. They be- 
lieved in war, because they believed that just as nature 
removes the weak animal or plant by an early death, so 
the weak nation should pay the penalty of its weakness 
by being defeated in war and absorbed by the stronger 
one. War would prove which nation was the most 
nearly perfect. The Germans had no doubt that this 
nation was Germany. Acceptance of this belief by 
the German people had much to do with bringing on 
the present war. 

Germany Wanted to Germanize the World. — As a 
result of the reasoning outlined in the last paragraph, 
German writers taught that those things which were 
German — their speech, their literature, their religion, 



34 German Militarism 

their armies, in short the manners, customs, and 
thoughts of the Germans — were the best possible 
manners, and customs, and thoughts. These things all 
taken together are what is meant by Kultur (kool-toor') , 
— not merely " culture " as the latter Word is generally 
used. 

Since the Germans believed that their Kultur was 
the highest stage of human progress, the next step, 
according to the view of their leaders, would be to Ger- 
manize all the rest of the nations of the earth by im- 
posing German Kultur upon them. If possible, this 
was to be brought about with the consent of the other 
nations; if not, then it was to be imposed by force. 

Suggestions for Study. — i. Locate Antwerp, Rotterdam, 
Hamburg, Bremen, East Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine. 2. Show on 
an outline map the regions which Germany desired to control. 
Who would have suffered? 3. If all countries adopted the Ger- 
man idea of war what would be the condition of the world? 4. Has 
any nation the right to impose its rule upon another people be- 
cause it believes its own ideals are the only true ones? 

References. — See page 26; also Conquest and Kultur (C. P. I.); 
War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.), under the headings "German Mili- 
tary Autocracy" and "Pan- Germanism." 

CHAPTER III 

GERMAN MILITARISM 

What is Militarism? — Militarism has been defined 
as"a policy which maintains huge standing armies for 
purposes of aggression." It should be noticed that the 



The Prussian Military System 35 

mere fact that a nation, through universal conscription, 
maintains a large standing army in times of peace does 
not convict it of militarism. Every one of the great 
European powers except England maintained such an 
army, and yet Germany was the only one that we can 
say had a militaristic government. 

A more narrow definition of militarism is that form of 
government in which the military power is in control, 
and w T ith the slightest excuse can and does override 
the civil authority. This had been the situation in 
Germany for many years before the outbreak of the 
Great War. 

Let us take a glance at the development of this sort 
of government. After Napoleon conquered Prussia, 
early in the nineteenth century, one of the conditions of 
peace was that Prussia should reduce her army to not 
more than forty-two thousand men. In order that the 
country should not again be so easily conquered, the 
king of Prussia enrolled the permitted number of men 
for one year, then dismissed that group, and enrolled 
another of the same size, and so on. Thus, in the course 
of ten years, it would be possible for him to gather an 
army of four hundred thousand men who had had at 
least one year of military training. 

The officers of the army were drawn almost entirely 
from among the land-ow T ning nobility. The result was 
that there was gradually built up a large class of mili- 
tary officers on the one hand, and, on the other, a much 
larger class, the rank and file of the army. These men 



36 German Militarism 

had become used, in the army, to obeying implicitly all 
the commands of the officers. ' 

This led to several results. Since the officer class 
furnished also most of the officials for the civil admin- 
istration of the country, the interests of the army came 
to be considered the same as the interests of the country 
as a whole. A second result was that the governing 
class desired to continue a system which gave them so 
much power over the common people. We should per- 
haps consider as a third result the fact that the posses- 
sion of such a splendid and efficient military machine 
tended to make its possessors arrogant and unyielding 
in their intercourse with other nations. 

Competition in Armaments. — After 1870 the German 
emperor was the commander of the whole German army, 
which was organized and trained on the Prussian 
model. The fact that Germany had such an efficient 
army caused other nations to be in constant fear of 
attack. Therefore her neighbors on the continent of 
Europe were led to organize similar armies and make 
other preparations for defense. 

Moreover, Germany in recent years formed a number 
of ambitious projects of expansion and colonization 
which would probably bring her into conflict with other 
countries. In order to assure herself of success, Ger- 
many proceeded to enlarge and otherwise improve the 
organization and equipment of her army. This led 
France and Russia to enlarge their armies. So the 
competition went on. 



Germany's Navy 37 

Germany's Navy. — For over a century Great Britain's 
control of the seas had been almost undisputed. In 
order to carry out her projects of expansion, Germany 
required a fleet which, while perhaps not so large as 
that of Great Britain, would be large enough to make 
the result of a naval battle questionable. Huge money 
grants were obtained from the German people, and 
for a time more battleships were built by Germany 
than by England. England dared not permit the naval 
superiority to pass into Germany's hands. The result 
was a competition in dreadnaught building quite as 
feverish as the competition in armies. The building 
and maintenance of these great fleets were a heavy 
burden upon the people of both countries. England 
made several offers to limit the competition by promis- 
ing to build no ships in any year in which Germany 
would build none, but Germany in every case refused to 
agree to the plan. 

Suggestions for Study. — i. Make a chart showing the com- 
parative sizes of European armies in 1914. 2. In the same way 
compare the European navies in 19 14. 3. What effect is pro- 
duced upon a country by an aristocratic military class? 4. Com- 
pare the German military policy with that of the United States. 
5. Will disarmament be one of the good results of this war? 

References. — The World Almanac; War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.), 
under the names of the several countries, and under "Navy"; 
German Militarism (C. P. I.). 



CHAPTER IV 

INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE HAGUE 
CONFERENCES 

International Law. — In the civilized world to-day 
each community is made up of citizens who have a right 
to the protection of the laws of their community and 
who in turn have the duty of obedience to those laws. 
During recent centuries improved means of communi- 
cation and transportation have brought all parts of the 
world closer together, and there has grown up in 
the minds of many enlightened thinkers the idea that the 
whole civilized world ought to be regarded as a com- 
munity of nations. In the past the relations of nations 
to one another have been very nearly as bad as that of 
persons in savage communities. Quarrels have usually 
been settled by contests of strength, called wars. Be- 
lievers in the idea of the community of nations argue 
that wars would cease or at least become much less 
frequent if this idea of a community of nations were 
generally accepted. 

The body of rules which nations recognize in their 
dealings with each other is usually spoken of as in- 
ternational law. As to certain rules of international 
conduct the civilized nations of the world have been in 
general agreement for many centuries. Among such rules 
are those for the carrying out of treaty obligations, the 

38 



International Law 39 

punishment of piracy, the protection of each other's 
ambassadors, the rights of citizens of one country to the 
protection of the laws of the country they are visiting, 
the protection of women and children in time of war. 

As in community law so also in international law 
rules have frequently grown up as matters of custom. 
In the second place agreements have sometimes been 
reached through negotiation and written out in the 
form of treaties between the two nations concerned. 
In the latter half of the nineteenth century several at- 
tempts were made to strengthen international law by 
means of general conferences of the nations. One of 
the most famous of these was the Conference of Geneva 
in 1864, which reached a number of valuable agreements 
on the care of wounded soldiers and gave official in- 
ternational recognition to the Red Cross. At the very 
end of the century occurred the first of the two famous 
international conferences at The Hague. 

Toward this growing movement in the direction of 
the setting up of a community of nations in which each 
has equal rights and equally recognizes the force of 
international law, the German Empire took an at- 
titude of opposition. She steadily refused to accept 
her place as a member of a family of nations. Her 
leaders took the ground, as explained in Chapter II, 
that strong nations should control weaker nations 
whenever it is to their own interest. As a principle this 
is just as barbarous as if in a community the man with 
the strongest muscles or the biggest club should be per- 



40 The Hague Conferences 

mitted to control the actions of his neighbors who 
happened to be weaker or less effectively armed. Just 
as the strong brutal man must be taught that laws 
apply to him as well as to the weaker members of the 
community, so must Germany learn to respect the 
laws of nations and the rights of weaker peoples. 

The Call for a World Peace Conference. — In spite 
of the rapid growth of armaments in Europe after 1870 
there was growing up among many of the leading think- 
ers of the nations a movement looking toward perma- 
nent peace in the world. The movement soon gained 
great strength among all classes. Peace societies were 
formed, meetings were held, and pamphlets were pre- 
pared and distributed. Toward the close of the cen- 
tury public opinion in most countries was leaning more 
and more toward the idea of universal peace. Govern- 
ments, however, were slower to take up the problem. 
Strangely enough the first government to take action 
in the matter was that of Russia, at the time the most 
autocratic of all the nations of Europe. 

Two years before the close of the century Czar Nicholas 
II sent out an official invitation calling upon the nations 
to send representatives to an international conference 
to discuss the problem of the prevention of wars. The 
Czar pointed out the dangers which must surely result 
if the military rivalry of the nations were not checked. 
He referred to the fact that European militarism was 
using up the strength and the wealth of the nations and 
was bringing about a condition of military prepared- 



The First Hague Conference 41 

ness which must inevitably lead in the end to a war 
more disastrous and terrible than any war in the history 
of mankind. The Czar did not go so far as to suggest 
complete and immediate disarmament. Every one knew 
that Europe was not ready to consider so violent a 
change of policy. The Russian invitation merely 
proposed that the conference should try to agree upon 
some means for putting a limit upon the increase of 
armaments. It suggested that the nations should 
agree not to increase their military or naval forces for 
a certain limited period, not to add to their annual 
expenditure of money for military purposes, and to 
consider means by which later on there might be an 
actual reduction of armaments. It was necessary to 
avoid the jealousies w T hich might arise among the great 
powers if the capital of one of them were selected for 
the conference, so the Czar suggested that the meeting 
take place at The Hague, the capital of small, peace- 
loving Holland. 

The First Hague Conference. — The conference 
called by the Czar met on May 18, 1899. All the great 
nations of the world sent delegates, as did many of the 
smaller nations. In all, twenty-six governments were 
represented, twenty of which were European. The 
United States and Mexico were the only countries of 
the New World which sent representatives. The 
queen of Holland showed her appreciation of the honor 
conferred upon her country by placing at the disposal 
of the conference, as its meeting place, the former 



42 The Hague Conferences 

summer residence of the royal family, the " House in 
the Woods," situated about a mile from the city in the 
midst of a beautiful park. 

Disarmament. — Although the menace of the tre- 
mendous armaments of Europe had been the chief 
reason for the conference, absolutely nothing was ac- 
complished toward solving that problem. This failure 
was largely due to the opposition of Germany, which, 
as the strongest military power in Europe, would listen 
to no suggestion looking toward the limitation of mili- 
tary force. At one of the early meetings of the con- 
ference a German delegate brought out clearly and 
unmistakably his government's opposition to any con- 
sideration of the subject. In a sarcastic and arrogant 
speech he defended the German system of compul- 
sory military service and her expenditures for mili- 
tary purposes. While it is extremely doubtful, in view 
of the difficulties in the way of any general policy of 
disarmament, that much could have been accomplished 
by the conference even under the most favorable cir- 
cumstances, this stand on the part of the German gov- 
ernment meant the immediate and absolute defeat of 
the suggestion. The other nations of Europe had 
established their large military systems as a measure 
of defense against Germany, so that in the face of that 
government's refusal to agree to the policy of limiting 
armaments, no neighboring country on the European 
continent could adopt it. In the conference, the matter 
was dismissed after the adoption of a very general reso- 



Arbitration 43 

lution expressing the opinion " that the restriction of 
military charges ... is extremely desirable for the in- 
crease of the material and moral welfare of mankind." 

Arbitration. — The conference met with a somewhat 
larger measure of success when it came to discuss the 
question of the peaceful settlement of international 
disputes, though here also the attitude of the German 
government stood in the way of complete success. The 
United States from the days of John Jay had taken the 
lead among the nations of the world in the policy of 
settling international disputes by peaceful means. 
Quite different has been the traditional policy of Prussia, 
which throughout its history has relied upon force to 
accomplish its purposes. All the German wars of the 
nineteenth century could easily have been averted if 
the Prussian government had honestly desired to settle 
its quarrels by peaceful methods. She took the ground, 
however, that arbitration could only work to her injury, 
since she was better prepared for war than any other 
nation and could mobilize her army more rapidly than 
any of her neighbors. "Arbitration," said one of 
her delegates at The Hague, " would simply give rival 
powers time to put themselves in readiness, and would 
therefore be a great disadvantage to Germany." This 
point of view shows clearly how the German leaders 
placed the growth of German power far above such 
considerations as right and justice. 

The Hague Peace Tribunal. — The struggle in the 
conference over the question of arbitration centered 



44 The Hague Conferences 

about the establishment of a permanent tribunal or 
international court of arbitration to which nations 
might bring their disagreements for settlement. The 
United States delegation favored making a definite 
list of the kinds of disputes which nations would be 
compelled to bring to the tribunal for settlement. On 
the other hand, the Kaiser himself sent a dispatch from 
Berlin in which he spoke strongly against anything in 
the nature of an arbitration tribunal. Largely through 
the efforts of Mr. Andrew D. White, head of the Ameri- 
can delegation, the German government was brought 
to modify its stand. Germany finally agreed to the 
creation of the tribunal, but only on condition that in 
no case should the submission of a dispute to it be com- 
pulsory. The tribunal was to be established, but it 
would have the right to render a decision only in those 
cases which the disagreeing nations might decide to 
submit to it. 

The Hague Tribunal is not made up of permanent 
judges like an ordinary court. It consists of persons 
(not more than four from each country) selected by the 
various nations from among their citizens of high stand- 
ing and broad knowledge of international affairs. From 
this long list any powers between whom there is a dis- 
agreement may choose the persons to form a court or 
tribunal for their special case. 

The Second Hague Conference. — The conference of 
1899 had proved an absolute failure so far as disarma- 
ment and compulsory arbitration were concerned. In 



The Second Hague Conference 45 

fact the years immediately following were marked by 
two destructive wars: that between Great Britain and 
the Boers of South Africa, and the war between Russia 
and Japan. These wars made it clear that with the 
applications of modern science warfare had become so 
terrible that, if the nations could not arrange by agree- 
ment for its abolition, they should at least take steps to 
lessen its horrors. This was the chief reason back of 
the invitation for a second Hague Conference, which 
was issued by the Czar at the suggestion of President 
Roosevelt. Forty-seven nations — nearly all the nations 
of the world — were represented when the conference 
assembled on June 15, 1907. 

Attempts were made to reopen the questions of dis- 
armament and compulsory arbitration, but without 
success. Germany again stood firmly against both 
suggestions. The conference consequently confined its 
efforts almost entirely to drawing up a code of inter- 
national laws — especially those regulating the actual 
conduct of war — known as " the Hague Conventions." 
They contain rules about the laying of submarine mines, 
the treatment of prisoners, the bombardment of towns, 
and the rights of neutrals in time of war; they forbid, 
for example, the use of poison or of weapons causing un- 
necessary suffering. Even on these questions Germany 
stood out against certain changes which would have 
made war still more humane. But her delegates took 
part in framing the Hague Conventions; and Germany, 
like all the other powers later engaged in the Great 



46 The Hague Conferences 

War, accepted those conventions by formal treaty, 
thus binding herself to observe them. 

Results of the Hague Conferences. — Leaders of the 
movement for universal peace felt that in spite of the 
small success of the Hague Conferences a definite be- 
ginning had been made. Many of them were very 
hopeful that later conferences would lead to larger re- 
sults and that even Germany would swing into line. 
There were plans to hold a third conference in 19 14 or 
1 91 5. As we look back upon the years between 1907 
and 1 9 14, it seems hard to understand the general 
blindness of the world to the certainty of the coming 
struggle. Armaments were piled up at a faster rate 
than ever. Naval armaments also entered into the 
race. From the point of view of bringing about per- 
manent peace in the world we must view the conferences 
at The Hague as having hopelessly failed. 

They did accomplish something, however. Arbi- 
tration was accepted by the nations of the world, in 
principle at least. Moreover, the conferences helped 
the cause of international law by showing how easily 
international agreements could be reached if all the 
nations were honestly in favor of peaceful decisions. 
Some day, now that the war has taught the world the 
much needed lessons that the recognition of inter- 
national law is necessary to civilization, and that the 
nations must join together in its enforcement, the work 
begun at The Hague in 1899 and 1907 will be taken up 
once more with larger hope of success. 



International Law 47 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. How are ordinary laws enforced? 
How is international law carried out? Why the difference? 
2. Enumerate the instances in which questions of international 
law have been brought up during the present war. 3. Look up 
the history of the Red Cross movement. 4. Why did the Hague 
Conferences fail to attain their great objects? 5. Summarize 
what was actually accomplished by the Conferences. 6. Has the 
history of the Hague Conferences any lessons which will be of 
value after this war? 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.), under "Red Cross," 
" Hague Conferences." See also publications of the World Peace 
Foundation; International Conciliation (C. P. I.); War, Labor, 
and Peace (C. P. I.). 



CHAPTER V 

INTERNATIONAL JEALOUSIES AND ALLIANCES 

The years between 1870 and 1914 were marked by 
growing jealousies among the great powers of Europe. 
All were growing in wealth and commerce, and each 
looked with envious eyes upon the successes of its neigh- 
bors. In this chapter we are going to consider some 
of the special reasons for the growth of international 
jealousies during this period, and the grouping of the 
great nations into alliances. 

Alsace-Lorraine. — At the close of the Franco-Prus- 
sian War in 187 1, France was humiliated by being 
forced to give up to Germany a large section of her 
eastern lands — Alsace and northeastern Lorraine. It 
was true that these provinces had long ago belonged 
to Germany. All of this territory, however, had been 
French for generations, and much of it for over two 
hundred years; and in both provinces the population 
was loyal to the French government and violently 
opposed to being transferred to the rule of Germany. 
But defeated France had no choice in the matter, and 
the provinces became part of the German Empire. 
France has never forgotten or forgiven this humiliation. 
Lloyd George, the British prime minister, in speaking of 
the Alsace-Lorraine problem (January, 1918) said, "This 
sore has poisoned the peace of Europe for half a cen- 



Alsace-Lorraine 



49 



The Hague/-) 



tury, and until it is cured healthy conditions cannot 
be restored." 

German rule in Alsace-Lorraine was unwise as well 
as severe. The teaching of the French language 
in the elementary 
schools of the prov- 
inces was forbid- 
den. Military ser- 
vice in the German 
army was made 
compulsory despite 
the protests of the 
inhabitants, who 
felt a horror of 
some day being 
forced to fight 
against the French, 
whom they re- 
garded as brothers. 
All important offices were filled by Germans from beyond 
the Rhine. The police constantly interfered with the 
freedom of the people. French newspapers were sup- 
pressed on the slightest excuse. Attempts were made 
to prevent Frenchmen from visiting Alsace and Alsatians 
from visiting France. German army officers stationed 
in the provinces openly ignored the rights of the popu- 
lation and were upheld in their conduct by the German 
government. As time passed the inhabitants grew more 
and more dissatisfied with the strict German rule. 




^g^<^p 



5o 



International Jealousies 



In France also hostility to Germany was increased by 
the conditions in Alsace-Lorraine. Frenchmen could not 
forget that they had been robbed of these provinces. Hope 
was kept alive that some day they might be won back. In 
the city of Paris, in the Place de la Concorde, there are 
eight large marble statues each representing a great city 
of France. One of these represents Strassburg, the chief 
city of Alsace. Every year, on July 14, the national 
holiday of France, the people of Paris placed a wreath 
of mourning on this statue. This custom expressed the 
sorrow of France for the loss of her eastern provinces, as 
well as her hope that some day they might be restored. 

Italia Irredenta. — Italia Irreden'ta in the Italian 
language means " unredeemed Italy." It refers to terri- 
tory adjoining Italy on the north and northeast, occupied 
by Italians but not yet redeemed from foreign rule. 

When in 187 1 the kingdom of Italy took its present 
form through the union of former Italian states (Chapter 
I), Italia Irredenta remained under the rule of Austria. 




ITALIA IRREDENTA 



SCALE OF MILES 



Constantinople 51 

Italians felt, however, that Italian unity was not com- 
plete so long as adjoining lands inhabited by Italian- 
speaking people were ruled by foreign governments. So 
they regarded these lands as " unredeemed." 

Italia Irredenta in 19 14 consisted chiefly of the Tren- 
tino (tren-tee'no) , a triangle of territory dipping down 
into the north of Italy, and some land around the northern 
end of the Adriatic including the important city of 
Trieste. Both of these regions were ruled by Austria. 
For many years this situation led to ill feeling between 
the two countries. While it did not have so direct 
a bearing on the outbreak of the World War as the ques- 
tion of Alsace-Lorraine, it nevertheless largely explains 
the entrance of Italy into the war on the side of the Allies. 

Russia and the Bosporus. — Still another situation 
which in the years before the war was the cause of 
international jealousies was Russia's long-standing ambi- 
tion to control Constantinople on the Bosporus. As 
Constantinople is the capital of the Turkish Empire, 
the continued existence of that state, at least on the 
continent of Europe, was threatened by Russia's purpose. 
Russia has long been in need of an ice-free port as an 
outlet for her commerce. Archangel (ark'an'jel) in the 
north is ice-bound most of the year. Vladivostok', 
her port on the Pacific, is ice-bound for three months of 
the year. Russian trade by way of the Baltic must pass 
through waters controlled by other countries. Naturally 
she has turned toward the Bosporus and Dardanelles 
(dar-da-nelzO — the straits connecting the Black Sea with 



52 International Jealousies 

the Mediterranean — as the natural outlet for her trade, 
and this explains her desire to possess Constantinople. 

For centuries Russia has been so much more powerful 
than Turkey that she would surely have taken possession 
of Constantinople if the other nations of Europe had 
not interfered. On two different occasions during the 
nineteenth century England came to the assistance of 
the Turkish Empire and saved Constantinople from the 
Czar. Great Britain was led to take this action through 
fear that Russian control of Constantinople might 
endanger the safety of her own communications with 
India. In the years immediately preceding the out- 
break of the Great War the danger from Germany made 
other quarrels of much less importance, and England's 
disagreement with Russia over her desire for a trade 
outlet was forgotten. 

European Ambitions in the Balkans. — Russia has 
always felt a strong interest in the small nations of the 
Balkan peninsula. Their inhabitants are for the most 
part Slavs, of the same race as the Russians themselves, 
and they have naturally looked upon the great Slavic 
empire of the Czars as their protector. There was, more- 
over, a pan-Slavic party in Russia, i.e. a group who 
looked forward to a union of all the Slav nations under 
the leadership of Russia. The pan-Slavic movement 
had its beginning in the help Russia had given these 
states in their revolt from Turkey. 

Russia's aims and hopes in the Balkans were strongly 
opposed by Austria-Hungary. That state had long 



The Balkan Problem 53 

felt the need of seaports to the southeast and hoped, 
with German support, to secure an outlet on the ^Egean 
and to control the whole course of the Danube. This 
purpose could be accomplished only by annexing a large 
part of the Balkan peninsula. The Balkan situation, 
therefore, brought Russia and Austria face to face in 
opposition to each other. It was one of the most 
serious instances of international rivalry in the period 
before the war. 

Italy also was interested in the Balkan question. 
She saw that if the Austrians should annex the Balkan 
lands lying to the south they would control the whole 
eastern shore of the Adriatic. Italian interests and 
ambitions would suffer. This fear, added to the con- 
stant bitterness caused by the problem of Italia Irre- 
denta, inflamed the hostility of Italy toward Austria. 

Finally, Turkey also had an interest in the Balkan 
situation. She hoped to benefit by the various jealousies 
of the great powers. She believed that fear of a general 
war would keep all of them from making any move in 
the Balkans and so would prolong her own shaky exist- 
ence as a European state. 

Rival Colonial Empires. — Some time after the 
establishment of the German Empire, her rapidly grow- 
ing wealth, population, and trade led her to regret the 
opportunities for colonial expansion that she had missed. 
She cast jealous eyes upon the vast colonial possessions 
of other nations. She also took what was left over, — ■ 
several large regions of Africa, a port in China, a few 



54 International Jealousies 

islands in the Pacific, — not nearly enough to satisfy 
her ambitions. South America was closed to her by 
the policy of the United States which is expressed in 
the Monroe Doctrine. In Asia, however, she secured 
extensive commercial and industrial concessions — the 
forerunners of political control — in the Turkish Empire. 
Germany's desire for colonies was natural enough, but 
her jealousy of her more fortunate European neighbors 
must be considered as one of the reasons underlying her 
military and naval preparedness for war. 

Germany' s covetous attitude toward the colonial 
possessions of other nations led to several serious inter- 
national disagreements in the years before the Great 
War. More than once it almost brought her into 
conflict with the government of the United States. 
An agreement had been made for the joint control of 
the Samoan Islands by Great Britain, Germany, and the 
United States. Germany's attempt to enlarge her 
interests in the islands led to a quarrel with American 
officers. An American flag was seized by armed Ger- 
mans, war vessels were sent to Samoa, and a naval 
battle seemed about to take place. A hurricane de- 
stroyed the vessels, however, before any fighting had 
occurred, and the three countries drew up a treaty which 
settled that particular difficulty (1899). 

Germany also resented our acquisition of the Philip- 
pines and other Spanish colonies. On the outbreak of 
our war with Spain in 1898, when Admiral Dewey 
was blockading Manila, he was spied upon by a German 



Rival Colonial Empires * 55 

fleet that was half disposed to interfere with his opera- 
tions. But when Dewey showed a willingness to fight, 
the Germans withdrew. 

Several years later Germany picked a quarrel with 
Venezuela and, in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine, 
bombarded a fort on her coast. Acting in conjunction 
with England and Italy, German warships blockaded 
the ports of Venezuela to force the payment of financial 
claims. President Roosevelt's insistence that Germany 
drop her further plans of aggression, and his promptness 
in concentrating the American fleet in the West Indies, 
resulted in Germany's accepting a peaceful solution of 
the dispute. 

In 191 1 Germany tried to force France out of Morocco. 
Since 1904 France had by common consent taken general 
charge of affairs in that country. Later Germany made 
objections to this arrangement. Finally, in 191 1, when 
France was sending troops into the interior to put down 
disorders among the natives, Germany sent a gunboat 
to Agadir (ah-gah-deer') , on the west coast of Morocco. 
It looked as if she intended to take possession of the 
port there. France protested and the affair began to 
look very warlike. England came to the support of 
France, and Germany gave up all claim to Morocco, 
taking in exchange about 100,000 square miles in equa- 
torial Africa. After this humiliation the German 
militarists became more determined than ever to force 
the war which they thought would make Germany 
supreme over her rivals. 



56 International Alliances 

The Triple Alliance. — The various jealousies among 
the nations of Europe which we have just considered, 
and particularly the general fear of the growing power 
of the German Empire, largely explain the strong 
international alliances which came into existence be- 
tween 1870 and 1914. 

Germany, after 1870, knew that France would for 
many years be too weak to retake Alsace-Lorraine. 
All that German leaders had to fear was that France 
might succeed in securing powerful friends among the 
other nations and that a strong combination of countries 
might some day challenge Germany's supremacy on the 
Continent. To prevent or at any rate to counterbalance 
any such combination, Germany looked about for allies 
upon whose help she might rely in case of necessity. 
At first she planned a general league of friendship with 
the great countries lying to the east and southeast, 
Russia and Austria-Hungary. This combination, known 
as the League of the Three Emperors, was soon broken 
up by the growing jealousies of Russia and Austria in 
the Balkans. Germany, having to choose which of 
these two nations she would support, decided in favor 
of Austria. There followed a growing coldness in the 
relations between Germany and Russia. 

Germany having allied herself with Austria, looked 
about for another nation to give greater strength to the 
combination. Her thoughts turned toward Italy, which, 
in case of another war against France, could attack the 
French southeastern border and so prove a valuable 



Triple Alliance and Triple Entente 57 

ally. For a number of years there had been ill feeling 
between Italy and France, and Germany counted on 
this feeling to bring Italy under her influence. The 
chief difficulty in the way of Germany's plan was that 
Italy would have to abandon her ideas in regard to Italia 
Irredenta and enter into friendly relations with Austria, 
her old enemy. Italy was finally driven into this 
unnatural alliance by the action of France, which in 
1 88 1 occupied Tunis, a land which Italy herself had 
been planning to annex as a colony. Italy, too weak to 
prevent this action of France, entered the alliance with 
Germany and Austria into which she had been invited. 
So it was that the Triple Alliance was established (1882), 
as a league of defense against any nations which should 
begin an attack upon any one of the three. 

The Triple Entente. — Entente (ahn-tahnt') is the 
French word for understanding or agreement. In the 
recent history of Europe it refers to that friendly group- 
ing of nations which was formed in self-defense against 
the Triple Alliance. The war of 1870 had left France 
not only humiliated but weakened and isolated. The 
formation of the Triple Alliance put out of question 
the idea of a successful war against Germany to right 
the wrong which France had suffered. In fact it seemed 
to make more probable a new attack upon France. Rus- 
sia also found herself in a position of isolation. Their 
isolation and consequent danger gradually drew these 
two nations together, distant as they were from one 
another and different as they were in government and 



58 International Jealousies and Alliances 

ideas. So there was established a dual alliance between 
the French Republic and the Russian Empire. 

Great Britain had for a long time remained outside 
the jealousies and combinations of the continental 
powers. In fact she had frequently found herself at 
odds with France over the rights of the two nations in 
Africa, and with Russia over the question of Constanti- 
nople and Russian aggression in Asia. When English 
statesmen discovered, however, that the German Empire 
was constantly enlarging her navy with a view to 
challenging English control of the seas, they felt that it 
would be well for Great Britain to seek friendships on 
the Continent. Old quarrels with France and Russia 
were forgotten. Friendly relations were established, 
and Great Britain, France, and Russia entered into a 
league of friendship known as the Triple Entente (1907). 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. Locate the Bosporus, Alsace- 
Lorraine, Italia Irredenta, Balkan peninsula, JEgesui Sea. 2. Ex- 
plain the geographical importance of Constantinople. How was 
Russia prevented from taking it in the Crimean War of 1854 and 
the Russo-Turkish War of 1877? 3. Show on a map of Europe 
the countries in the Triple Alliance and those in the Triple 
Entente. Why was each alliance formed? 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; Harding, New 
Medieval and Modern History; Hazen, Europe since 181 5; and 
other European histories. For the treaties forming the two alli- 
ances, see A League of Nations, Vol. I, No. 4. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE BALKAN STATES 

The Balkans. — As we have learned in Chapter I, 
the Balkan states are, with the exception of Montenegro, 
the result of a series of revolutions which took place 
during the last hundred years. These revolutions were 
the result of two causes. First there was a growing 
restlessness of the different groups of people in the 
Balkan peninsula. This was due not only to centuries 
of Turkish misrule, but also to the influence of the 
republican movement which developed in northern and 
western Europe as a result of the French Revolution. 
The second cause of the Balkan revolutions was the 
gradual growth among the oppressed races of the feeling 
that they would better their condition by throwing off 
the despotic Turkish rule and by organizing each separate 
race into a separate nation. Thus it was that the revolu- 
tions brought into existence a group of small states, each 
populated chiefly by one of the races inhabiting the 
Balkans. 

Races in the Balkans. — There are more races repre- 
sented in the Balkans than in any similar sized territory 
in Europe. Most of the Balkan states lie along what 
was the northeastern fringe of the Roman Empire. 
So we find inhabiting them not only ancient races like 
the Greeks and Albanians, but also descendants of 

59 



THE BALKAN STATES 
1913 

SCALE OF MILES 




\ ' 4VRHODES 

J 



60 



Races in the Balkans 61 

Roman colonists like the Roumanians, and other 
racial groups like the Serbs and Bulgars, which represent 
the survivals of the barbarian invasions of the Middle 
Ages. While the larger groups of invaders passed on 
to the west, these dropped out and moved southward 
into the Balkan peninsula, where their descendants still 
remain. We must not think that these are pure races. 
There has been much intermixture, and to-day all of the 
groups contain a strong Slavic element, although some 
are rather unwilling to admit it. There is besides a 
Turkish element in the population, as the result of the 
long period of Turkish rule, especially in those districts 
where many of the original inhabitants accepted Moham- 
medanism, as in Albania and Macedonia. 

The Slavs. — The Serbs, a Slavic race, form the chief 
part of the population in Serbia and Montenegro, as 
well as in Bosnia and other parts of southern Austria- 
Hungary. Together with the Croats and Slovenes of 
southern Austria-Hungary, the Serbs are called the 
Jugo-Slavs (yoo'go-slavz) or South-Slavs (jugo means 
"south") to distinguish them from the Czechs, Poles, 
and Russians of the north. There is, however, a strong 
feeling of relationship between these two great Slavic 
groups. 

The Bulgars. — The Bulgars are descended from a 
non-Slavic race allied to the Tatars and Finns. They 
came into the Balkan region on the heels of some of the 
early migrations and seized the land now called Bulgaria; 
there, however, they mingled with the native Slavic 



62 The Balkan States 

people whom they conquered, and whose language they 
adopted. There are, besides, many Bulgarians in 
the Dobrud'ja — the district lying between the lower 
Danube and the Black Sea. Likewise in the province 
of Macedonia, the Bulgarians form the largest element 
in the population. 

The Roumanians. — Roumania is the old Roman 
province of Dacia, and the Roumanians claim to be 
descendants of colonists which the Romans sent into 
that province as an outpost against invasion. It is 
certain that the language spoken by the Roumanians is 
much like Latin, but, as a recent writer says, the language 
is closer to Latin than the Roumanians are to Romans. 

The Albanians. — The Albanian people are descended 
from the most ancient of all the races in the Balkan 
peninsula; their language is the oldest language spoken 
in Europe. For centuries they were nominally subject 
to Turkey; but the Turks never really succeeded in 
conquering them, though many of the Albanians became 
Mohammedans. 

The Greeks. — Though the Greeks are descended in 
part from the people who inhabited their country in 
ancient times, and though they speak a modern form of 
the old Greek language, it is certain that the present 
inhabitants are a much mixed race. They are largely 
Slav, but hold a strong feeling for the great past of their 
country. This gives them an unusually strong national 
rallying point. In many ways the Greeks are the most 
progressive of the Balkan races. 



Influence of Great Powers 63 

Russia and Austria as Protectors of the Balkan 
Countries. — The struggle between the great powers as 
to which of them should become the heirs of "the sick 
man of Europe," as the Sultan of Turkey was long ago 
called, dates back about a century. Austria on account 
of her geographical position and her desire to expand 
to the southward, and Russia on account of her desire 
for Constantinople and the racial ties connecting her 
with the Balkan states, each hoped to be preferred. 
Both Austria and Russia, then, for more or less selfish 
reasons, were anxious to bring about the break-up of the 
Turkish Empire in Europe. Whenever a revolt against 
Turkish rule would break out, the revolutionists could 
almost always count on the help of one or the other of 
these nations. 

Since the Slavs and the Greeks hated each other, and 
both hated the Bulgarians, there was sometimes a 
tendency for the Bulgarians and the Greeks to look 
to Austria or Germany for help, as a counterpoise to 
Russia's influence on behalf of the Slavic states. At 
one time, however, Russia gave great aid to Bulgaria. 
In all the twists and turns of Balkan politics we find 
Russia or Austria posing as protector of the rights of 
one or another of the Balkan states. 

On the other hand, when all the Balkan states border- 
ing Turkey put aside their rivalries and combined for 
an attack on Turkey in 191 2, Germany and Austria 
gave what moral support they could to Turkey. Austria 
had no desire to see a strong league of the Balkan states 



64 The Balkan States 

formed to the south of her, a league which would be 
largely under the influence of Russia. 

German leaders had already formulated their dream 
of Mittel-Europa (Mid-Europe), a broad band of German- 
controlled territory extending to Turkey. With Turkey 
itself Germany made treaties which practically assured 
her control all the way to Bagdad. Germany had no 
desire either for a Balkan league, which would block 
her way, or for the defeat of Turkey, which might 
interfere with the carrying out of the treaties. 

The Balkan War of 1912. — Turkish rule in Mace- 
donia had become increasingly bad. Situated in the 
midst of three of the larger Balkan countries, it had 
representatives of each among its population. These 
countries put aside for the time being their jealousies of 
each other. In 191 2 Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and 
Montenegro formed an alliance and presented a demand 
to Turkey that Macedonia should be made self-govern- 
ing. Most of Europe believed that the German-trained 
army of the Turks would annihilate the armies of the 
smaller nations. But in a little over a month Turkey 
was beaten. Even Constantinople might have been 
taken had Bulgaria pursued the advantage gained by 
her troops. This time no nation protected Turkey, and 
the treaty of peace left her with only a tiny bit of 
European territory and the city of Constantinople. Inci- 
dentally, Germany had lost much prestige, for Turkey 
had fought the war with the help of German officers 
and with German encouragement, and had lost. 



The Balkan Wars 65 

The Second Balkan War. — Unfortunately, the victors 
soon quarreled over the spoils. Bulgaria had seized 
Thrace and wanted most of Macedonia, including the 
city of Salonika, which had been captured by the Greeks. 
Austria intervened to prevent Serbia from getting any 
increase in territory on the southwest, toward the 
Adriatic. Hence Serbia wanted a share of the lands to 
the south, claimed by Bulgaria. Bulgaria, backed by 
Austria and Germany, refused to make any concessions, 
or to leave the dispute to arbitration. She began the 
second Balkan war with a night attack on the Serbian 
and Greek armies, but was unable to defeat them. On 
the contrary Bulgaria was defeated within a month, 
partly because Roumania and Turkey also entered the 
struggle against her. Bulgaria had to give up much of 
her conquests to her former allies. Roumania claimed a 
slice of! her northeastern corner, and a Turkish army 
recaptured Adrianople and neighboring territory from 
the hard-pressed Bulgarians. 

Loss of Prestige by Germany and Austria. — One of 
the important results of these two wars was the loss of 
prestige by Germany and Austria. These "Central 
Powers," as they were called, had gone out of their way 
to encourage first Turkey, and then Bulgaria, and both 
these countries had been badly beaten. In any future 
diplomacy the opinions and desires of the Central 
Powers would have less weight and impressiveness than 
formerly. To regain their lost influence it was prac- 
tically certain that these nations would, at the earliest 



66 The Balkan States 

opportunity, make an attempt to impose their will 
upon the victorious Balkan states. 

Suggestions for Study. — i. Locate Macedonia, the Dobrudja, 
Nish, Sofia, Durazzo. 2. Define and explain Mittel-Europa; 
"The sick man of Europe." 3. Which nations of the Balkan 
peninsula border upon the Black Sea? Which border upon the 
Adriatic? Which lie along the Danube? 4. On an outline map 
of the Balkan peninsula indicate the races to which the popula- 
tions belong and their distribution. 5. We have read in this 
chapter that the old Roman province of Dacia developed later 
into modern Roumania; can you name the Roman provinces 
which correspond to the modern nations of France, Spain, Eng- 
land, Switzerland? 6. What do you know of the history of Con- 
stantinople prior to its capture by the Turks? 7. Explain the 
causes of the second Balkan war. How did the outcome of this 
war affect the history of the great European powers? 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; Study of the Great 
War (C. P. I.) ; Davis, The Roots of the War; Hazen, Europe 
since 1815; and other general histories of recent Europe. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE GREAT WAR 

Germany's Responsibility. — Germany's tremendous 
increase of armaments, her opposition to arbitration, 
her hostility to the purpose of the Hague Conferences, 
her building up of the Triple Alliance, her challenge to 
England's naval supremacy and her refusal to accept 
England's suggestion that both nations should limit 
their expenditures on naval armaments, the glorification 
of war on the part of her teachers and writers, — all 
make it clear that the present Great War was of her 
planning. For years she prepared herself to inflict a 
crushing blow with all the weight of her powerful army 
and navy and establish herself as the mistress of the 
world. On this she was willing to stake her very exist- 
ence. To use a phrase made famous by one of her lead- 
ing military writers, Germany had decided upon " world 
power or downfall." 

German militarists all looked forward to the day 
when her years of preparation would at last reap their 
reward through the crushing of Germany's rivals. 
England particularly, with her vast trade, her colonial 
empire, and her control of the sea, they planned to 
lower to a subordinate position in the world. " Der 
Tag" (der tahkh), "the day" when the long-awaited 
war should burst upon the world, was a favorite toast 

67 



68 Beginnings of the Great War 

in the German army and navy. As long ago as the end 
of the Spanish-American War, a German diplomat said 
to an American army officer: " About fifteen years from 
now my country will start her great war. She will be 
in Paris in about two months after the commencement 
of hostilities. Her move on Paris will be but a step to 
her real object — the crushing of England. Everything 
will move like clockwork. We will be prepared and 
others will not be prepared." 

Final Preparations. — In 1913 the German government 
decided upon a large increase in her already tremendous 
standing army. Immense sums were also appropriated 
for aircraft and for huge guns powerful enough to batter 
to pieces the strongest fortresses. To pay for this 
extra equipment additional heavy taxes were voted. 
The new arrangements were all to be completed by the 
fall of 1 9 14. Alterations were also hurried on the Kiel 
Canal. This waterway, connecting the Baltic with the 
North Sea, had been opened in 1895 an d was of great 
naval importance. The new German battleships, how- 
ever, were so large that the canal was not large enough 
to admit them. The work of widening and deepening 
the passage was undertaken by the government, and 
was finally completed on July 1, 1914. Preparations 
for the Great War were complete at last, both on land 
and sea. The gunpowder was ready. All that was 
needed was a spark to bring about the explosion. 

The Austro-Serbian Question. — For years before the 
war the Serbs and other Jugo-Slavs in the southern 



The Austro-Serbian Question 69 

provinces of Austria-Hungary had been dissatisfied 
with Austrian rule. The Serbs of Bosnia and Herze- 
govina (her-tse-go-vee'nah) were especially aroused when 
those provinces, after a long temporary government by 
Austria-Hungary, were formally annexed by that power 
in 1908. Their wish was for union with the adjoining 
Serbian kingdom. Their aspirations did not cause 
very much trouble while Serbia was small and weak; 
but when, as a result of the Balkan wars, Serbia was 
revealed to the world as a warlike nation with extended 
boundaries and growing national ambitions, the Austrian 
Serbs grew restless. There is little doubt that Serbs of 
Serbia had much to do with the anti-Austrian activities 
that rapidly spread among their brothers within the 
Austrian Empire. The Austrian government, much 
disturbed by a movement that threatened to spread 
among her other subject populations, began to seek a 
pretext for crushing her southern neighbor and so 
settling the troublesome Serbian question once for all. 

In 1913, at the close of the second Balkan war, 
Austria-Hungary informed her allies, Italy and Ger- 
many, of her intention to make war upon Serbia, and 
asked for the support of those countries. Italy refused 
to have any part in the matter. Germany, realizing 
that Russia would probably come to the assistance of 
Serbia and that a general European war might follow, 
no doubt prevailed upon Austria to stay her hand. 
Germany's preparations at that time were not quite 
complete. 



70 Beginnings of the Great War 

The Assassination of Francis Ferdinand. — In the 

early summer of 19 14 occurred the event that was 
destined to plunge the world into war. Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hun- 
gary, made a visit to the southern provinces of the mon- 
archy. On June 28, while he and his wife were driving 
through the streets of Serajevo (ser'a-ya-vo) , in Bosnia, 
three pistol shots were fired into the carriage, mortally 
wounding the archduke and his wife. The assassin was 
an Austrian Serb, a member of a Serbian secret society 
which had for its aim the separation of the Serb provinces 
from Austria-Hungary and their annexation to the 
kingdom of Serbia. The crime caused great excitement 
and horror throughout Europe. But the deed had 
given Austria the opportunity to settle its account with 
Serbia and thus put an end to the Serb plottings within 
the Austrian borders. 

The Decision for War. — There is evidence that on 
July 5, one week after the murder at Serajevo, a secret 
meeting of German and Austrian statesmen and generals 
took place in the German emperor's palace at Potsdam, 
a suburb of Berlin. Probably at this conference it was 
definitely decided that the assassination of the Austrian 
crown prince should be used as a pretext for crushing 
Serbia. Austria, it was expected, would thus perma- 
nently settle her Serbian problem. Germany must have 
known that this action would probably lead to a gen- 
eral European war, since Russia would come to the 
rescue of Serbia and France would stand by Russia. 



The Austrian Ultimatum 71 

But Germany was ready at last, and so the terrible 
decision was made. 

The Austrian Ultimatum. — On July 23, the Austro- 
Hungarian government sent a note to the government of 
Serbia holding her accountable for the Serajevo murder 
and making a number of humiliating demands. Serbia 
was told she must suppress all newspapers inciting enmity 
to Austria, that she must dissolve all societies that were 
working toward "Pan-Serbism," that she must dismiss 
from the Serbian public service all officials whom the 
Austrian government should officially accuse of plotting 
against Austria, that she must accept the help of Austrian 
officials in Serbia in the putting down of anti-Austrian 
activities and in searching out accessories to the plot of 
June 28, that she must arrest two Serbian officials who 
had been implicated by the trial in Serajevo, and that 
she must put a stop to the smuggling of arms from 
Serbia into Austria. 

The demand that Serbia admit Austrian officials into 
Serbia to take part in the work of investigation and 
suppression was an intolerable invasion of Serbia's 
sovereignty within her own borders. But the most 
threatening part of the note was its conclusion: "The 
Austro-Hungarian government expects the reply of the 
royal [Serbian] government at the latest by 6 o'clock 
on Saturday evening, the 25th of July." In other 
words, the note was an ultimatum giving Serbia a 
period of only forty-eight hours in which to agree to the 
Austrian demands. 



72 Beginnings of the Great War 

Serbia's Reply. — Serbia's answer to the Austrian 
ultimatum was delivered within a few minutes of the 
time set. She agreed, practically, to all the Austrian 
demands except those which required that Austrian 
officials should conduct investigations and suppress con- 
spiracies in Serbia, and she even went part way toward 
accepting those. Serbia went on to suggest that if 
Austria was not entirely satisfied with the reply, the 
points still in dispute should be referred to the in- 
ternational tribunal at The Hague. This reply the 
Austrian government considered unsatisfactory. Forty- 
five minutes after the Serbian note had been placed in 
the hands of the Austrian minister to Serbia that official 
handed a notice to the Serbian government stating "that 
not having received a satisfactory answer within the 
time limit set, he was leaving Belgrade" (the Serbian 
capital) . Austria- Hungary made immediate preparations 
for the invasion of Serbia and on July 28 declared war. 

Efforts for Peace. — Meanwhile Great Britain, 
France, and Italy were putting forth every effort to 
preserve the peace of Europe. In these efforts the lead 
was taken by Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign 
minister. As early as July 26 he urged a conference at 
London of the representatives of France, Germany, 
Italy, and Great Britain to find some solution of the 
problem which might be satisfactory to both Austria 
and Russia. Italy and France agreed at once, but 
Germany raised objections. Germany's only suggestion 
for preserving the general peace of Europe was that 



The Declarations of War 73 

Austria should be permitted to deal with Serbia as she 
pleased, without interference from any other power. 
And so it continued through those critical days. Every 
effort made by England looking toward a peaceful 
settlement of the quarrel was baffled by Germany's 
refusal to cooperate. This is not difficult to understand 
in the light of our later knowledge of the plans and 
aims of the German government. 

The Declarations of War. — Austria's declaration 
of war on Serbia (July 28) was followed by the general 
mobilization of Austria's troops. Austria maintained 
that all her armies were for the war on Serbia, but her 
preparations were so extensive that it was clear she 
was getting ready to fight Russia also. In reply Russia 
began to mobilize her troops, partly to prevent the 
destruction of Serbia, but also to defend herself from 
possible Austrian attacks. Russia definitely notified 
Germany that her mobilization was directed against 
Austria only. Meanwhile England continued her efforts 
to bring about a conference of the powers, a plan which 
Germany continued to foil. The Czar in a formal 
telegram to the Kaiser on July 29 suggested that the 
Austro-Serbian problem be given over to the Hague 
Tribunal, a suggestion which would have led to peace. 
Nothing came of this proposal. 

On July 31 the German government, on the ground 
that Russia's mobilization was a threat of war, sent 
ultimatums to both Russia and France. The ulti- 
matum to Russia gave that government twelve hours 



74 Beginnings of the Great War 

in which to stop all war preparations against both 
Germany and Austria. The ultimatum to France 
informed that government of the message just sent to 
Russia, and demanded a reply within eighteen hours as 
to whether France would remain neutral in case of war 
between Germany and Russia. The crowds in the 
streets of Berlin went wild with joy over the news of 
the two ultimatums. There were cries of "On to Paris" 
and "On to St. Petersburg." The Kaiser addressed his 
people from the balcony of his palace. In the course 
of his speech, he said, "The sword is being forced into 
our hand." The government of Germany had decided 
to make its people believe that they were about to fight 
in self-defense. 

Russia would not demobilize her armies under a Ger- 
man threat. Consequently the next day, August i, 
Germany declared war upon Russia. Two days later, 
August 3, Germany declared war on France because that 
country had refused to desert her ally in this time of 
danger. The greatest war of all history had begun. 

Great Britain Enters the War. — The German mili- 
tary leaders felt sure that Great Britain would remain 
neutral in case of a general European war. They 
based this belief on the peaceful temper of the English 
people, upon the serious domestic problems she was 
facing, such as the question of woman suffrage, Irish 
Home Rule, and the threatening labor situation. Ger- 
many regarded England as a nation of shopkeepers who 
would not fight unless they were attacked. After Ger- 



The Declarations of War 75 

many had made herself supreme on the Continent 
England's turn would come. 

Great Britain's agreement with France and Russia, 
the other members of the Triple Entente, did not go 
so far as to require her to join them in case they should 
be involved in war. It is difficult to say whether or 
not Great Britain would have decided to enter the 
conflict at this time if a new element had not been 
introduced into the question by Germany's invasion of 
Belgium. Of this invasion more will be said in the 
following chapter. All that need be mentioned here is 
that Germany, in spite of a long-standing treaty to 
observe Belgium's neutrality, had decided on marching 
through that country as the best route to Paris. Great 
Britain, as one of the nations which had promised to 
protect the neutrality of Belgium, immediately de- 
manded of the German government that it withdraw 
its plan of invasion. Germany refused, and on Au- 
gust 4 Great Britain declared war. So one week after 
Austria's declaration of war against Serbia all the 
powers of the Triple Entente — commonly called the 
Allies — were in arms against Germany and Austria. 
Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, on 
August 1 declared herself neutral, much to the disap- 
pointment and anger of the Central Powers, her former 
allies. Her treaty with them provided that she should 
come to their aid only in case they were attacked, and 
so did not apply to the present war, in which Germany 
and Austria were the aggressors. 



76 Beginnings of the Great War 

Suggestions for Study. — 1 . Locate the Kiel Canal. What is 
its other name? When and why was it constructed? 2. Locate 
Potsdam, Belgrade, Serajevo. 3. Define ultimatum; mobiliza- 
tion; "Der Tag"; Jugo-Slavs. 4. What is the meaning of the 
prefix "pan" in Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism, Pan-Serbism? 
What do you know about each of these movements? 5. What is 
a declaration of war? Who has the power to declare war in the 
United States? In Germany? 6. Where are the provinces of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina? How were they governed before 1878? 
Between 1878 and 1908? Since 1908? 7. Review the efforts 
for peace made by the British government between the Austrian 
ultimatum and Germany's final declarations of war. Explain the 
attitude of Austria, Russia, France, and Germany during these 
days. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.); Study of the Great 
War (C. P. I.); The Government of Germany (C. P. I.); Davis, 
The Roots of the War. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE WAR IN 1914 

German Plan of Attack. — As soon as the German 
leaders had' determined upon war, their military ma- 
chine was set in motion. The plan was first to attack 
France and crush her armies before the slow-moving 
Russians could get a force together; and then, after 
the defeat of France, to turn to the east and subdue 
Russia. The success of the plan was dependent upon 
the swift overthrow of France; and this in turn hinged 
upon the question as to whether German armies could 
invade France before the French were ready. Speed 
was the essential thing, and in order to gain speed 
Germany committed one of the greatest crimes in 
modern history. 

From the nearest point on the German boundary to 
Paris is only one hundred and seventy miles. But no 
rapid invasion of France could be made in this direc- 
tion for two reasons: first, because of the very strong 
forts which protected the French frontier; and second, 
on account of the nature of the land, which presents 
to the east a series of five easily defended ridges, each 
of which would have to be stormed by an invader. A 
German attack directly across the French frontier 
could move but slowly past these natural and military 

77 



78 The War in 191 4 

obstacles; and the French nation would have ample 
time to mobilize its forces. 

Consequently the German military leaders deter- 
mined to attack France from the northeast. Here a 
comparatively level plain stretched from Germany 
through Belgium and France up to Paris itself. Many 
good roads and railways traversed the land. Few 
natural barriers existed to aid the defenders, and France, 
trusting to the neutrality of Belgium, had no strong 
fortifications on her northeastern frontier. One ob- 
stacle to German invasion existed; it was what the 
German Chancellor once 1 called "a scrap of paper" — a 
promise to respect the neutrality of Belgium, which 
Prussia, France, and England had agreed to by formal 
treaties. Similar treaties guaranteed the neutrality 
of Luxemburg, a small country east of Belgium. Upon 
these promises France had depended for the protection 
of her northeastern border; for the German Empire 
had accepted all the rights and all the duties of the 
treaties made by Prussia. But now, under the plea 
of necessity which " knows no law," the German rulers 
determined to break their promises, violate the neu- 
trality of Belgium and Luxemburg, and crush France 
before an aroused and alarmed world could interfere. 

Belgium Blocks the German Plan. — The invasion 
of Belgium had two results which the Germans had 
not foreseen. In the first place, it brought Great 

1 In an interview with the British ambassador, as reported by the 
ambassador, August 4, 1914. 



Resistance of Belgium 79 

Britain immediately into the war to the aid of Belgium 
and France. In the second place, the Belgian king and 
people refused to be bought off with a promise of com- 
pensation; they made the high decision to defend their 
country as long as possible against the terrible German 
army-machine. Said the Belgian king: "A country 
which defends itself commands the respect of all; that 
country cannot perish." This action of Belgium dis- 
arranged the German army plans; instead of reaching 
Paris according to schedule, the Germans were delayed 
in Belgium for ten days. These ten clays were full of 
horror and suffering and defeat for the brave Belgians; 
but they are precious days in the light of history. They 
gave time for the French to mobilize their armies and 
bring them up to the northeast; and they enabled 
Great Britain to send across the English Channel her 
first hundred thousand troops. In this way Paris was 
saved from capture, and France from conquest; and 
probably the whole world from German domination. 
The German plans for world conquest met their first 
defeat at the hands of brave little Belgium. The 
would-be conquerors had forgotten to include in their 
time-table the elements of honor, patriotism, and self- 
sacrifice. 

The German Advance. — Luxemburg was occupied 
without resistance, for that little country had no army. 
On August 4, 1 9 14, the German armies attacked the 
Belgian fortress of Liege (lee-ezh'), and within twenty- 
three days Belgium was overrun, its capital taken, and all 



8o 



The War in 1914 



the important places except Antwerp captured. After 
the delay in Belgium, the main German armies advanced 
into France. Here they were met (August 21-23) D Y 
French and British troops; but the defenders were not 



r^S* ® 







& 



& ^ 




THE 

WESTERN FRONTl 

1914 

SCALE OF MILES 



20 40 CO 80 100 
•■■■■Battle Line, September 6, 1914 
Farthest German Advance 
Battle Line, Dec. 31, 1914 



^ N.^trassburg/ 
1 



Belfort.f 

^-^(^ J^ SWITZERLAND 



yet strong enough to stop the German advance. For 
twelve days they fell back toward Paris, lighting con- 
tinually, until' the invaders were within twenty miles 
of the city. The French government and archives 
were withdrawn from Paris to Bordeaux in the south- 



The Western Front 81 

west, so imminent seemed the capture of the capital. 
The battle line now extended for one hundred and 
seventy-five miles eastward from near Paris to the for- 
tress of Verdun. 

The First Battle of the Marne. — In the meantime 
the French commander, General Joffre (zhofr), had 
secretly been collecting another army with which to 
attack the invaders on the flank from the west. At 
the right moment he hurled this army upon the German 
flank, while the men on the main battle line were com- 
manded to "face about and accept death rather than 
surrender." On September 6-10 took place the first 
great battle of the Marne, during which the Germans, 
under these new attacks, were compelled to retreat 
fifty miles from their most advanced position. The 
French armies had rescued Paris in the nick of time. 
The French government once more returned to its 
capital. "France had saved herself and Europe." 

The Race to the Coast. — On reaching the river 
Aisne (an) the German armies had time to entrench 
themselves and thus beat off the heavy attacks of the 
French and British (September 12-17). The Allied 
armies in turn began to entrench opposite the German 
positions. But both armies turned toward the north 
in a race to reach the North Sea and outflank the enemy. 
The Germans were particularly anxious to reach Calais 
(ca-le r ) and cut the direct line of communication be- 
tween England and France. Antwerp surrendered to 
the Germans on October 9; Lille (leel) .on the 13th. 



82 The War in 1914 

In tremendous massed attacks the Germans sought in 
vain to break through the British lines (Battle of Flan- 
ders, October 17 to November 15). The German losses 
were upwards of 150,000 men. On the coast the Bel- 
gians cut the dikes of the river Yser (fser) and flooded 
the neighboring lowlands, thus putting a stop to any 
further advance of the enemy. 

Trench Warfare. — By this time the combatants 
had reached a temporary deadlock. Both had adopted 
trench tactics, and for over three hundred miles, from 
the sea to the Swiss border, two systems of entrench- 
ments paralleled one another. The trenches were 
protected in front by intricate networks of barbed 
wire. Looked at from above, the trenches seemed 
to be dug with little system. But they rigidly adhered 
to one military maxim, — that fortifications must not 
continue in a straight line, because such straight trenches 
are liable to be enfiladed from either end. Hence the 
trenches curve and twist, with here and there support- 
ing trenches and supply trenches. Sometimes the 
trenches are covered; sometimes dugouts and caves 
are constructed. Every turn or corner is protected 
with machine-guns. In some portions of the line these 
trenches faced one another for over four years with 
scarcely any change in their relative locations. 

German Treatment of Occupied Territory. — East- 
ward of the German trenches lay all of Belgium except 
a very small corner, and the richest manufacturing 
districts of France, including eighty per cent of the 



German Treatment of Occupied Territory S$ 

iron and steel industries, and fifty per cent of the coal. 
On the other hand the Allies had occupied only a small 
section of German territory at the southern end of the 
line, in Alsace. 

German occupation of Belgium and northeastern 
France was accompanied by horrible barbarities and 
systematic frightfulness, which were in violation of 
the Hague Conventions as well as of other laws and 
usages of civilized warfare. The aim at first was to 
terrorize the people and reduce them to a condition of 
fear and of servility to the conquerors. Men and 
women were executed without adequate evidence or 
trial; many German soldiers were quartered in the 
homes; at the slightest sign of resistance innocent 
persons were punished for the guilty; immense fines 
and forced contributions were imposed upon the com- 
munities; furniture, works of art, beautiful buildings, 
and historic structures were ruthlessly pillaged and 
destroyed. In the second place, the Germans began 
a systematic plundering of the occupied country, taking 
for transportation to Germany anything they deemed 
useful or valuable. Nearly every article made of 
metal, wool, rubber, or leather was seized. Machinery 
from Belgian and French factories was taken to German 
establishments. Households were compelled to sur- 
render bathtubs, door knobs and knockers, kitchen 
utensils, gas fixtures, bedclothes, etc. Food, farm 
animals, and farm products were confiscated; and the 
population was saved from actual starvation only by 



84 The War in 1914 

the energies of Belgium's friends in France, England, 
and America. At a later time, a third policy of the 
Germans was to drag Belgian and French young men 
and women away from their families and relatives 
and compel them to work far from their homes in 
factories, fields, and mines. Probably more than two 
hundred thousand persons were forced into this indus- 
trial slavery. Finally, where the Germans were forced 
to retire from the lands they had occupied in northern 
France and in Belgium, they sought to reduce much of 
the evacuated territory to a desert condition. Not 
only were bridges and roads destroyed, but houses, 
factories, and churches were leveled to the ground, 
and the foundation walls and cellars were obliterated. 
In some parts of France even the fruit trees and 
grapevines, the product of many years' growth and 
care, were systematically destroyed, and everything 
which might make the land habitable disappeared. 

The War in the East. — As has already been ex- 
plained, the German military leaders had counted upon 
a rapid crushing of France by way of Belgium before 
Russia should have time to complete her military prepa- 
rations for attacking eastern Germany. But during 
the time lost through the unexpected resistance of 
Belgium huge Russian armies were gathered together 
in Russian Poland for an invasion of Germany and 
Austria-Hungary. 

The western border of Russian Poland is less 
than two hundred miles from Berlin. But Russia 



The Eastern Front 



85 



could not advance along this road without running 
the risk of having the Germans from the north 
and the Austrians 
from the south cut 
off her armies from 
their sources of 
supply in Russia. 
In other words, 
Russia dared not 
advance on Berlin 
without first driv- 
ing the Germans out 
of East Prussia and 
the Austrians from 
Galicia. Hence the 
plan of her cam- 
paign in 1 9 14 was 
to invade these two 
provinces. 

Battle of Tannenberg. — Two Russian armies entered 
East Prussia in the middle of August. At first they 
met with success. The nature of the country, however, 
was against them, as there was a chain of almost im- 
passable lakes, marshes, and rivers stretching across their 
route. In this difficult territory they were surprised by 
German reinforcements which had been rushed to the 
east. In the battle of Tan'nenberg (August 26-31), 
the German troops under the command of General 
von Hindenburg inflicted a crushing defeat upon the 




^^fc— ^ Buda 

EASTERN EROffT 

Dec. 31, 1914 



SCALE OF MILES 



^li-nY* 



86 The War in 1914 

Russians, capturing 70,000 men and large quanti- 
ties of supplies. Hindenburg followed up his success, 
and the Russians were completely expelled from East 
Prussia. 

The Russians Overrun Galicia. — The second part 
of the Russian plan, the invasion of Galicia, was more 
successful. In September the important city of Lemberg 
was taken, and the fortress of Przemysl (pshem'ishl) 
was besieged. By December almost the whole prov- 
ince was in Russian hands. South of Galicia, separat- 
ing it from Hungary, are the Carpathian Mountains. 
Russian troops penetrated the passes of this mountain 
wall and conducted a series of successful raids upon 
the plains of northern Hungary. 

The Russian Situation at the Close of 1914. — At the 
end of the year Russia, while she had achieved success 
in Galicia, had failed in East Prussia. An advance 
toward Berlin was for the time out of the question. 
Indeed the Germans had themselves taken the offen- 
sive and had entered Russian Poland. In October 
an advance of German and Austrian troops threatened 
Warsaw, the most important city in Poland. The 
Russians in spite of strong efforts were unable to drive 
their enemies entirely out of this region. On the whole, 
therefore, the Russian situation at the end of 19 14 was 
disappointing. Russia's accomplishment consisted of 
her victories in Galicia, and, probably more important, 
the drawing of German troops from the western front 
and the consequent weakening of Germany's offensive 



The Balkan Front 87 

in France and Belgium. Russia was no farther on the 
road to Berlin than at the opening of the war. 

Serbian Resistance to Austria. — An Austrian at- 
tempt to overwhelm Serbia in the first weeks of the 
war met with disastrous failure. This was due to two 
causes: (1) the brave resistance of the Serbian troops; 
(2) the fact that the greater part of the Austrian forces 
had to be used for defense against the Russian invaders 
of Galicia. Serbia after severe fighting compelled the 
Austrians to retreat beyond their own boundaries. 
Early in September the Serbians took the offensive and 
began an invasion of Austria-Hungary. This venture 
failed, and before long Serbia was once more resisting 
the enemy on her own soil. Belgrade fell into Aus- 
trian hands on December 2. It did not long remain 
in the possession of the conquerors. On the 14th, it 
was regained by the Serbians, and the Austrian armies 
once more expelled. The little Balkan kingdom seemed 
to be holding her own. 

Turkey Enters the War. — In the years before the 
war, Germany had carefully cultivated the friendship 
of the Turkish government. By means of intrigue, 
she had practically made herself master of that country, 
particularly in military matters. The Turkish army 
had been trained by Germans, and many of its officers 
were Germans. Although at the opening of the war 
Turkey declared herself neutral, she soon showed her- 
self an ally of the Central Powers. There is evidence 
to show that as early as August 4 she had entered into 



The War in 191 4 89 

a secret treaty with Germany. In October Turkey 
startled the world by bombarding a Russian port on 
the Black Sea and destroying French and Russian ves- 
sels at Odessa. These x acts were regarded by Russia 
as acts of war. A few days later France and Great 
Britain declared war on Turkey. 

Germany welcomed the entrance of Turkey into the 
war for two reasons. In the first place she expected 
that the Mohammedans under English and French 
rule, that is, those living in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, 
and India, would join the Turkish Sultan, the religious 
head of the Mohammedan world, and engage in a 
11 Holy War" against Great Britain and France. In 
this hope she was doomed to disappointment. In the 
second place Germany rejoiced at the arrival of a new 
enemy for Russia who might keep the Russians occu- 
pied along their southern borders and so weaken their 
efforts on other fronts. 

German Colonies in the Pacific. — During the first 
four months of the war all of Germany's possessions 
in the Pacific were lost to her. On the outbreak of the 
war, Australia and New Zealand promptly organized 
expeditionary forces which attacked and captured the 
German colonies and coaling stations situated south 
of the Equator. German Samoa, the first to be taken, 
surrendered to the New Zealand expeditionary force 
August 29. The other German possessions in the 
South Pacific surrendered to the Australians. 

England's ally, Japan, having entered the war August 



90 The War in 1914 

23, 1914, sent an expeditionary force which captured 
and occupied the German islands in the North Pacific. 
Kiaochow (kyou'cho') , Germany's only colony in China, 
was captured by a combined Japanese and British force 
early in November. 

The loss of these colonies so early in the war inter- 
fered seriously with German plans for a war on Allied 
commerce by fast cruisers. In the absence of German, 
coaling stations, the only way such vessels could obtain 
coal during a long raiding voyage, would be by the 
chance capture of coal-laden vessels. 

German Colonies in Africa. — During the last quarter 
century Germany had succeeded in getting control of 
considerable territory in Africa. There were few Ger- 
man colonists there. However, Germany hoped that 
the Boers, who had recently fought a war with the 
British, and had been defeated, would attempt to re- 
gain their independence. In this case there was also 
the possibility of capturing Cape Colony and Rhodesia 
from the British. Much to the surprise and disgust 
of Germany, the Boers promptly showed their loyalty 
to Great Britain and aided in capturing the German 
colonies. 

The struggle for Germany's African colonies con- 
tinued for more than three years. Togo, a compara- 
tively small colony, was captured by French and British 
troops shortly after the outbreak of the war. Under 
the Boer leaders, Generals Smuts and Botha, German 
Southwest Africa was conquered by July of 191 5. 



Naval Operations 91 

Kamerun in West Africa was freed from German forces 
in 19 16. The final chapter in the fight for the German 
colonies was written in December of 1917, when an army 
from British South Africa, in cooperation with Belgian 
forces, completed the conquest of German East Africa. 

Germany's Fleet. — When war was declared the 
German fleet, which had cost the people of Germany 
a billion and a half of dollars, was something less than 
two thirds the strength of the British fleet. Germany's 
task was to destroy the British fleet or to weaken it to 
such an extent that it could no longer protect the British 
trade in food and munitions from over seas, nor assure 
the safe transport of troops from Great Britain or her 
colonies to the various fronts. 

The Work of the British Navy. — The British navy 
had two pieces of work to perform. In the first place 
its aim was to destroy or bottle up in port the main 
German fleet so that it should not be able to interfere 
with the British plans for the war. In the second place 
squadrons had to be sent out to search for and destroy 
German squadrons or vessels that were far from home 
ports at the outbreak of war or that were sent out to 
raid British and neutral commerce. 

Coast Protection. — Both Great Britain and Ger- 
many protected their coasts by laying fields of mines 
in the sea so placed that they would float just under 
water and arranged to explode on contact with the 
hull of a ship. Through these mine fields carefully 
hidden channels gave access to the different ports. So 



92 The War in 1914 

long as ships stayed in port or inside the fields of mines 
they were safe from attack. 

The Blockade of German Ports. — In July, 1914, the 
British navy had a grand review. When the review 
was over, the war clouds were so threatening that the 
vessels were not dismissed to their stations. At the 
beginning of the war Great Britain announced a block- 
ade of German ports and assigned to her main fleet the 
task of carrying out the blockade. 

The Battle of Helgoland Bight. — Helgoland is a 
small island rising steeply out of the North Sea; it has 
an area of one fifth of a square mile. It was ceded to 
Germany by England about twenty years before the 
war. Germany had fortified it and made it a sort of 
German Gibraltar to protect her chief naval ports. 
The Bight of Helgoland is the passage about eighteen 
miles wide between the island and the German coast. 
Here a portion of the British fleet engaged in patrol 
or scout duty came in contact with a part of the German 
fleet (August 28, 1914). The arrival of four fast British 
battleships decided the contest. Germany lost three 
cruisers and two destroyers, while every British vessel 
returned to port, though some were badly battered. 

German Commerce Raiders. — A few days before 
the outbreak of the war the German fleet in China 
slipped out of port. The cruiser "Emden" was de- 
tached for work in the Indian Ocean, and the rest of the 
squadron raided over the Pacific. November 1, a 
British squadron met the German ships near the coast 



Naval Battles 93 

of Chile. In a little over an hour two of the British 
ships had been sunk and the remainder fled to the 
south. Immediately on news of the defeat' the British 
Admiralty sent a squadron of seven powerful ships to 
find and destroy the German squadron. The British 
vessels stopped at the Falkland Islands to coal. The 
next day the German ships appeared. When they saw 
the strength of the British squadron they vainly at- 
tempted to escape. In the battle that followed, four 
German vessels were sunk. Of the two that escaped 
one was, a few months later, interned in a United States 
port and about the same time the other was destroyed. 

The "Emden," after separating from the other war- 
ships, cruised in the Indian Ocean for three months, 
and was the most destructive of the German raiders. 
She was finally located by an Australian cruiser. After 
a fight the German captain drove his vessel on the 
rocks to escape sinking. A lieutenant and forty men 
who had landed to destroy a wireless station, seized a 
schooner and escaped, landed on the coast of Arabia, 
and finally made their way back to Germany. 

Naval Situation at the Close of 1914. — As a result 
of the activities of the Allied fleets, the German navy 
was shut up in port back of its mine fields, Ger- 
man commerce raiders had, with a few exceptions, 
been driven from the sea or destroyed, German mer- 
chant vessels were laid up in neutral or German ports, 
and the Allies were free to carry on the transport of 
troops, munitions, and other supplies with practically 



94 The War in 1914 

no fear of interference from the enemy. "The British 
ships, whether men-of-war or merchantmen, are upon 
the sea, the German in their ports." 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. Locate Metz, Cologne, Liege, 
Namur, Lille, Verdun; the Meuse, the Marne, the Oise, the 
Aisne; Lemberg, Warsaw, Konigsberg. 2. Look at a large map 
of Europe and by reference to the scale find out the following 
distances: Metz to Paris; Cologne to Paris (via Liege); Verdun 
to Berlin; Verdun to Strassburg; Liege to Paris; Warsaw to 
Berlin. What is the length of the Belgian coast-line; of the 
Dutch coast-line; of the Franco-German frontier? 3. Collect 
pictures and charts illustrative of trench warfare, and of devas- 
tated areas of Belgium and France. 4. Explain fully the influ- 
ence of geography upon the campaigns of 1914. 5. Define 
neutrality; guarantee; treaty. 6. On an outline map of Europe 
indicate the countries fighting against Germany at the close of 
1914. Indicate those fighting on the side of Germany at that 
time.- Indicate the date when each of these countries entered the 
war. Draw a line showing the farthest German advance into 
France, and the farthest Russian advance into Germany and 
Austria (map, page 124). 7. What might have been the con- 
sequences if the Belgians had not resisted the German invasion? 
8. Describe the German effort to reach the French coast in 
1 9 14. What would have been the probable consequences of its 
success? 9. What was the purpose of the English blockade of 
Germany? How did this blockade affect the rights of neutrals? 
Find out what the United States government did in the matter. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; Study of the Great 
War (C. P. I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of 
the War; National School Service, Vol. I, No. 3 (C. P. I.) ; New 
York Times History of the European War. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE WAR IN 1915 

The Western Front. — The deadlock which existed 
on the western front at the close of 19 14 continued with 
little change during the year 191 5. There were indeed 
many contests which, on account of the men involved 
and the casualties, would in previous wars have been 
considered major engagements; but in spite of great 
preparations neither side was able to make much im- 
pression upon the entrenched line of the enemy. From 
the sea to the Swiss border two apparently impregnable 
lines of trenches faced each other. 

German ingenuity and barbarity were shown in two 
new forms of warfare introduced during this year. 
Poison gas was first used, contrary to the terms of the 
Hague Conventions, against the Allied line on April 
22, 191 5. It brought on the most horrible forms 
of suffering and torture, and compelled a temporary 
withdrawal of the French and English from trenches 
near Ypres (eepr). Later, masks were used as a pre- 
ventive of gas poisoning. Eventually the Allies were 
forced to adopt the use of poisonous gases in bombs 
and shells in order to fight the Germans with their own 
weapon. The other innovation was the "flame-thrower," 
an apparatus which threw a flame of burning liquid or 
gas far ahead of the troops. This has never been 

95 



96 The War in 191 5 

widely used by the Germans, because it proved almost 
as dangerous to themselves as it was to their opponents. 
A sharpshooter's bullet or a piece of shell might pierce 
the apparatus and the containers and produce dangerous 
results among the Germans. 

The Gallipoli Campaign. — In the east the year 
opened with an attempt on the part of the Allies to force 
the Dardanelles with their fleets and take possession of 
the city of Constantinople. The campaign gets its 
name from the peninsula of Gallip'oli, the European 
shore of the Dardanelles. In February the campaign 
opened with a naval attack. The Turkish fortifications, 
however, were strong enough to defeat a purely naval 
attempt and the Allied fleets met with heavy losses. 
It has been stated since that had the Allies continued 
the attack one more day the Turks would have had to 
yield, as their ammunition was nearly exhausted. In 
April troops were landed on the peninsula to aid in the 
attack. Siege operations were then begun against 
the Turkish and German forces defending the peninsula. 
Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) and other 
troops, under General Ian Hamilton, fought long and 
gallantly, but in vain. Finally, in January of the 
next year, the campaign was abandoned. It had 
cost the Allies heavily in money and lives, and its 
failure had lost to them the respect of the hesitating 
nations of southeastern Europe, Bulgaria and Greece. 

The War on the Russian Border. — Along the Russian 
frontier also the Allied cause met with serious reverses. 



The Eastern Front 97 

The year had opened favorably with the Russians in 
control of most of Galicia. In March the great Galician 
fortress of Przemysl, which had successfully withstood 
the attacks of the Russians the previous autumn, was 
compelled to surrender. 

Meanwhile, in January, Russia once more attempted 
to carry out the other part of her general plan, the 
invasion of East Prussia. The Russian troops succeeded 
as before in entering the coveted territory, this time 
crossing the troublesome lake region while the waters 
were frozen. Soon, however, the invaders met with a 
decisive defeat. In the Battle of the Mazurian Lakes, 
General von Hindenburg took 100,000 Russian prisoners; 
the number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers is 
said to have been 150,000. The Russians hurriedly 
retreated from German soil. 

The time had now come for the Germans and Austrians 
definitely to assume the offensive. A strategic blow in 
Galicia imperiled the whole Russian front and com- 
pelled a general retreat of the Russian armies in Galicia 
and Poland. In June both Przemysl and Lemberg 
were recaptured by the Central Powers. By September 
all of Russian Poland had been conquered. Russia had 
lost 65,000 square miles of thickly populated territory. 
But the land was so thoroughly plundered by the German 
conquerors that many of the people died of starvation. 

Bulgaria Enters the War. — The sympathies of the 
Bulgarian government had been with the Central 
Powers from the beginning of the war. Bulgaria had 



98 The War in 191 5 

not forgiven the neighboring Balkan states for their 
treatment of her in the second Balkan war (1913). 
Against Serbia her feeling was particularly bitter. 
The Allied disaster at Gallipoli and the military suc- 
cesses of Germany and Austria in Poland and Galicia 
in the spring and summer of 191 5 led the Bulgarians to 
believe that now was the time for them to strike. In 
October Bulgaria declared war upon Serbia, thus defi- 
nitely taking her stand as an ally of the Central Powers. 

Bulgaria's entrance into the war was followed by 
simultaneous invasions of Serbia from Austria and 
from Bulgaria. Under these blows the Serbians were 
crushed. Together with her neighbor and ally, brave 
little Montenegro, Serbia was overrun by her enemies. 
The cruelties inflicted upon the Serbian population by 
the invading Bulgars are said to have been fully as 
horrible as those which had taken place during the 
conquest of Belgium in 1914 and of Poland in 1915. 

There was serious danger that the government of 
Greece would follow the lead of Bulgaria and also enter 
the war on the side of the Central Powers. This was 
prevented by two things. In the first place, a majority 
of the Greek people favored the cause of the Allies and 
were opposed to Bulgaria. In the second place, the 
Allies promptly landed an army at Salonica. Later on, 
they removed Constantine, the pro-German king of 
Greece, and placed his son Alexander upon the throne. 

The East at the Close of 1915. — On the eastern 
front 191 5 had been a year of failure. The Gallipoli 



The Italian Front 99 

campaign had been a humiliation for the Allies. The 
Russians had been driven from Russian Poland and 
from the Austrian province of Galicia. Bulgaria had 
joined the Central Powers, linking Austria-Hungary 
with Turkey. Serbia, the country whose quarrel had 
been the occasion of the whole world struggle, had been 
conquered by the enemies of the Allies. 

Italy Enters the War. — In May, 191 5, Italy declared 
war upon Austria, and more than a year later upon 
Germany. Her reasons for this action were: (1) her old 
enmity toward Austria; (2) her desire to annex the 
neighboring territory inhabited by Italians, but ruled 
by Austria; and (3) her feeling that Austria was opposed 
to Italian interests in the Balkans. 

Italy entered the war with vigor although at a great 
disadvantage. When the northern Italian lands were 
freed from Austrian rule in 1866, Austria kept the high- 
lands and mountain passes, from which she could easily 
descend upon the Italian lowlands. Now that war was 
begun, the Italians were compelled to force their way up 
the heights and against the fire from well-protected 
Austrian forts. Here upon the dizzy peaks of the Alps, 
or the icy surfaces of glaciers, or the rocky mountain 
sides, warfare has been more spectacular and has called 
for more daring and recklessness than anywhere else. 
Slides of rock and avalanches of ice sometimes have 
been the ammunition of armies. During the year the 
Italians made some progress and by December occupied 
positions well within the Austrian frontier; but no 



ioo The War in 191 5 

decisive battle had been fought or important city or 
fortress occupied. 

Allied Control of the Sea. — Throughout 1915— as 
in the preceding and the following years — the Allies 
maintained their control of the ocean. As a result of a 
proclamation declaring the North Sea a military area, 
and the more strict enforcement of the proclamation 
against sending contraband articles to Germany, the 
blockade against the Central Powers was more tightly 
drawn. 

This seriously affected the commerce of the United 
States, not only with Germany but with neutral coun- 
tries, such as Holland or Sweden, that could easily 
transship to Germany the supplies received. Neutral 
vessels were stopped and taken into Allied ports, there 
to be detained sometimes for long periods until a decision 
was reached as to the legality of their traffic. Moreover, 
the expense of this detention was laid upon the owners 
of the vessel and cargo. These acts brought forth a 
series of protests by our government against the policy 
of the Allies. The correspondence continued with 
varying results until the United States entered the war. 

Forced Decrease of Neutral Trade with Germany. — 
Neutral countries adjoining Germany had been making 
huge profits by selling their food and other products to 
Germany, replacing their stores with material imported 
from over seas. As part of the preparation for a long 
war, the Allies blocked the renewal of neutral stocks of 
goods. The neutral countries complained vigorously, 



Submarine Warfare 101 

but they soon cut down their trade with Germany since 
they were no longer able to replenish their stock of 
food, rubber, metals, and other supplies. 

Submarine Warfare. — In 1914, when the war broke 
out, Germany is said to have had but four seaworthy 
submarines. It is difficult to believe that she had so 
few, but it is certain that she did not have so many as 
either England, France, or Russia. German naval 
authorities were not convinced of the value of the sub- 
marine in war. 

However, about a month after the war began, a 
German submarine torpedoed a British cruiser, and, 
within a few minutes, two others that had gone to 
assist the first. Germany, now realizing the value of 
the new weapon, began the construction of a numerous 
fleet of underwater boats, or U-boats. But against 
war ships, properly defended by guns and other means, 
they proved of little avail after all. Toward the end of 
the year, Admiral von Tirpitz, head of the German 
navy, hinted at an extension of the use of submarines 
to attack merchant ships. 

Soon numbers of the submarines made their way to 
the waters surrounding the British Isles, where they 
torpedoed merchant vessels taking food and supplies 
to Great Britain and France. The vessels sunk were 
chiefly British, though some were neutral. 

Protection against Submarines. — Large war ships 
were protected from submarines by keeping them in a 
mine-protected area until there was need for them at 



102 The War in 191 5 

sea. At sea they were protected largely by the patrol 
and scouting operations carried on by lighter and faster 
vessels. To reduce the danger to merchant vessels from 
submarines, harbors and sea lanes were protected by 
mines and by great nets made of heavy wire cables. 
The seas in the immediate vicinity of Great Britain 
were patrolled by thousands of small, swift vessels 
constantly in search of U-boats. 

Attempted Blockade of Great Britain. — In February, 
191 5, Germany declared a blockade of the British Isles. 
Under an actual blockade she would have the right to 
prevent neutral vessels from trading with Great Britain. 
But inasmuch as it was not possible to take seized 
neutral ships to German ports, the submarines would 
sink them, often without providing for the safety of the 
passengers and crews. The ultimate object of this course 
of action was so to reduce the world's shipping as to 
make it impossible for Great Britain to be supplied with 
the food or other materials that would enable her to 
carry on the war. This method of warfare, however, 
was contrary to the well established rules of inter- 
national law. Against it the United States and other 
neutrals made vigorous protests. 

The Lusitania, — The most notable loss by submarine 
attack was that of the "Lusitania," sunk without 
warning off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 191 5. Nearly 
twelve hundred lives were lost, including many women 
and children. One hundred and fourteen of those lost 
were Americans. An advertisement had been inserted 



Naval Operations 103 

in the papers warning passengers not to travel on Allied 
ships, but no one believed that Germany would go so 
far in violation of international law as to torpedo, without 
warning, a passenger vessel carrying civilians of neutral 
as well as of warring nations. The people of the whole 
civilized world were horrified by the deed. Germany's 
attitude is shown by the fact that medals were struck 
commemorating the act, and the commander of the 
submarine was rewarded. 

President Wilson wrote a series of notes to the German 
government insisting that Germany conduct her warfare 
in accordance with international law. This resulted 
in a promise by the German minister to the United 
States, that liners would not be sunk by German sub- 
marines without warning and without safety to the 
lives of noncombatants, provided that the liners did 
not try to escape or offer resistance. 

Raids on Coast Towns. — Several times in 1914 
German vessels managed to escape through the cordon 
of Allied ships. They proceeded to the east coast .of 
England and bombarded defenseless fishing ports and 
watering places such as Yarmouth, Whitby, and Scar- 
borough. These raids had no military effect, but they 
resulted in the killing or wounding of hundreds of 
women, children, and old men. They were undertaken 
for the purpose of terrorizing the civilian population of 
England in order to arouse a desire for peace. In 
January, 191 5, a German squadron attempting a similar 
raid was intercepted and defeated by British war ships. 



104 The War in 191 5 

Zeppelins. — At the outset Germany had great faith 
in the usefulness of her immense dirigible balloons, or 
Zep'pelins, as they are commonly called. In the attack 
on Belgium, they were used for observation, incidentally 
dropping a few bombs on Antwerp. Early in 191 5, 
Zeppelins made their appearance over England, bombing 
many of the smaller towns and villages, as well as 
London. Such raids might have some effect on the 
war if they were directed toward munition plants, 
railway stations, or naval depots. The Germans, 
however, generally contented themselves with attacks 
on defenseless residential towns and cities. Up to 
October, 191 7, there were thirty-four such raids, resulting 
in the death of nearly one thousand persons and the 
wounding of three times as many. The result on the 
military situation was practically zero, except to increase 
the British determination to see the war through. 

Later the protection afforded Great Britain by anti- 
aircraft guns and especially by airplanes, made it highly 
dangerous for Zeppelins to continue their raids. Many 
of them were destroyed. The later raids were made by 
squadrons of airplanes which had greater chances of 
escape. German air raiders found it increasingly dif- 
ficult to get past the defenses, and in 1918 the raids on 
England became infrequent. 

Allied Retaliation. — For a long time the Allies 
refused to retaliate by bombing unfortified towns in 
Germany, but finally they decided to do so. The 
immediate results were a protest from Germany that 



Aircraft and Munitions 105 

the Allies were violating international law, and a petition 
to the German authorities from the towns in western 
Germany, asking that air raids on places not in the 
military area should be stopped, so that the German 
cities should not be bombed in retaliation. Nearly all 
such Allied air raids, however, were directed against 
railroads, munition factories, and other objects of 
military importance. 

The Allies Organize for a Long War. — When Lord 
Kitchener, the great British general, predicted that the 
war would last at least three years, hardly any one 
believed him. It was thought that the cost of a modern 
war would be so great that nations would not be able 
to stand the strain for more than a few months. When 
the Allies realized that Kitchener was right, they pre- 
pared for a long struggle. The munition factories in 
all the countries were reorganized, and the output of 
war material was increased many fold, more being 
produced in a few days than had formerly been pro- 
duced in a year. Great Britain and France appointed 
ministers of munitions whose sole work was to see that 
the armies were supplied with guns, ammunition, and 
other righting needs. 

The people in the British overseas dominions re- 
mained loyal, and sent hundreds of thousands of 
soldiers to the battle fronts in order to protect the 
mother country from threatened defeat. To secure 
still greater cooperation throughout the British Em- 
pire, the prime ministers of the self-governing colonies 



106 The War in 191 5 

were invited to places in the British imperial war 
conferences. 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. Locate Przemysl, Lemberg, the 
Mazurian Lakes, Scarborough, Helgoland, Essen. 2. On an out- 
line map of Europe indicate the countries engaged in the war at 
the end of 191 5. Which of these countries had entered during 
the year? 3. By use of the scale on your map of Europe deter- 
mine the following distances: Ostend to Scarborough; Berlin 
to Warsaw; Brussels to Paris. 4. When did the kingdom of 
Poland pass out of existence? What became of it? 5. What was 
the purpose of the Allies in the Gallipoli campaign? What would 
have been the consequences of the success of this campaign? 
6. Collect pictures of Zeppelins, of gas attacks, and of methods 
of defense against gas. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; Study of the Great 
War (C. P. I.) ; New York Times History of the European War; 
McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of the War; German 
War Practices (C. P. I.), parts I and II. 



CHAPTER X 

THE WAR IN 1916 

"They Shall Not Pass! " — Early in 1916 the Ger- 
mans began a furious attack on the strong French 
position at Verdun. This point was a highly important 
one for the French, because if it were captured by the 
enemy, he could make flank attacks upon their adjoining 
lines and perhaps compel a general retreat. The Ger- 
mans had long been massing materials and men for the 
greatest military offensive which the world had ever 
seen. Twenty thousand men were placed on each mile 
of the front for a distance of twenty-five miles, while 
hundreds of thousands more were held in reserve. 
Thousands of guns of all sizes were brought up for the 
attack. Under the command of the German crown 
prince, the German people and the whole world were 
to be shown that the German army was still invincible. 

Beginning on February 21, the titanic struggle around 
Verdun continued until July, when the attacks and 
counter-attacks were gradually suspended. In the 
early attacks the French were driven in from advanced 
positions, and then the Germans charged the heavily 
protected woodlands and hills. In massed formation 
they advanced in the face of artillery, machine-gun, 
and rifle fire of the heaviest character. The first waves 
were mown down like grain; but other troops, and 

107 



108 The War in 19 10 

still others climbed over the bodies of their dead com- 
rades. Never since the world began had such slaughter 
been seen. 

During the intervals between the infantry attacks 
the French troops were subjected to an unprecedented 
artillery fire. Suffering under a strain such as armies 
had never hitherto known, the French patriots yet held 
true to their watchword, — "They shall not pass." 
General Petain (pa-tan'), in a stirring address, said to 
his entrenched heroes, "Courage, we'll get them!" 
(''Courage, on les aural"), and this phrase became the 
Verdun battle-cry. Try as the Germans would, from 
every possible point, they could not break through the 
living wall of Frenchmen. A little ground was won 
here and there, but before the end of the year 
nearly all had been retaken by the French. At a fright- 
ful cost the German crown prince and his military ad- 
visers had put their fighting machine to the test, and 
it had failed. A half million men, killed, wounded, or 
prisoners, were lost to the Germans before they ceased 
their attacks at this point. 

The Battle of the Somme. — In July, 19 16, while the 
Verdun struggle was still undetermined, the French 
and British troops began an advance on the German 
line along the river Somme (som). Exceedingly heavy 
artillery attacks first battered down the enemy defenses, 
and then the infantry went "over the top." During 
the long course of the Battle of the Somme (July 1 to 
November 17) the Allies advanced on a front of twenty 



The Western Front 109 

miles to a maximum depth of about nine miles. Slowly, 
and at great expense of ammunition and men on both 
sides, the Allied progress had been won. They had 
failed to break through the German line, but they had 
shown how it might gradually be pushed back. And 
they had relieved the important position of Verdun 
from further severe attacks, because German forces were 
needed to the westward. 

In the course of this battle, on September 15, the 
British first used their most original military machines 
— the "tanks." Thereafter these armored cruisers of 
the land were to play an increasingly important part 
along the western front. 

Increased Use of Aircraft. — Aircraft, too/ were 
every day becoming more valuable. In the first year 
of the war airplanes were used mainly for observation 
purposes: to find the location of enemy forts, trenches, 
troops, and batteries; and to direct the fire of the 
aviator's own batteries. Hundreds of photographs were 
taken by the airmen, rapidly developed, and within 
thirty minutes the staff officers could be seen studying 
them with microscopes to determine what changes had 
taken place within the enemy's lines. Anchored bal- 
loons, too, were used for similar purposes. 

Airplane construction and use developed more rapidly 
than any other feature, in the war. After the observa- 
tion machines, came the battle-planes, whose first 
purpose was to clear the way and protect the observation 
planes. Later, heavy machines for bombing expeditions 



no 



The War in 19 16 



were constructed; and squadrons of airplanes now took 
part in every battle, preceding the attacking party, and 

firing with ma- 
chine-guns and 
bombs upon the 
enemy's trenches 
or his massed 
troops back of 
the line. 

The Russians 
Invade Turkey in 
Asia. — In the 
early months of 
1916 Russian 
troops met with 
success in an of- 
fensive in the part 
of Turkey south 
of the Caucasus. 
This territory, 
known as Arme'- 
nia, is inhabited 
by a Christian 
population who 
for many years 
had been the victims of Turkish persecutions; half a 
million were cruelly exterminated after Turkey allied 
herself with Germany in 1914. The Russians advanced 
steadily, inflicting serious defeats upon the Turkish forces. 




Operations in Turkey in 

In February they took possession of Erz'erum, a strongly 
fortified city of Armenia. The capture of this point 
was of importance because it was a step in the plan for 
cooperation with the British armies which were pushing 
their way north from the region of the Persian Gulf. 
It had the further important result of interrupting 
Turkish plans for an invasion of Egypt by way of the 
Isthmus of Suez, as Turkey was compelled to concen- 
trate her power for the defense of her own territory. 

In April, Treb'izond, the most important city on the 
Turkish shore of the Black Sea, surrendered to the 
invading Russian army. The Russians, supported by 
fleets along the coast, had made the defense of the city 
impossible. The fall of Trebizond was a very serious 
blow to the power of Turkey in Asia Minor. 

The Campaign in Mesopotamia. — Part of the Allied 
plan in the east was for the junction of Russian armies 
operating from the region of the Caucasus with British 
troops from the land around the Persian Gulf. While 
the Russians, as we have seen, were making a note- 
worthy success of their part of this program, the British 
had not been so fortunate. Their plan was to take 
possession of Mesopotamia, the valley of the Tigris- 
Euphrates, and occupy its capital, the famous city of 
Bagdad. General Townshend with an insufficient force 
had begun his march up the Tigris River the year before 
and in March, 191 5, had occupied the stronghold of 
Kut-el-Ama'ra, about 100 miles below Bagdad. Here 
later he was besieged by a Turkish army. A Russian 



ii2 The War in 1916 

army on the way from Erzerum and an English relief 
force from the south failed to reach the place in time, 
and April 29, 1916, General Townshend was forced by 
starvation to surrender. 

Russian Successes in Austria. — During the summer 
months the Russians under the command of one of 
their greatest leaders, General Brusilov, renewed their 
offensive against the border lands of Austria-Hungary. 
It looked for a while as if the disasters of 191 5 in this 
region were about to be redeemed. On a wide front 
extending from the Prip'et marshes in eastern Poland 
all the way to Bukowina (boo-ko-vee'nah), the Austrian 
province southeast of Galicia, the Russian armies ad- 
vanced. They invaded Galicia and took hundreds of 
thousands of Austrian prisoners. Austria was com- 
pelled to transfer troops from her Italian front. The 
year 1916 closed with the Russians in a decidedly more 
favorable military position than they had occupied a 
year before. 

Roumania in the War. — In August, 1916, Roumania 
entered the war against the Central Powers, a step for 
which the Allies had long been hoping. We know now 
that Roumania entered the war at the worst possible 
moment, both for herself and for the Allies. There is 
reason to believe that certain high Russian officials, 
secretly plotting with the German rulers, persuaded 
Roumania that this was the time to enter the struggle. 
They held out to her the hope of annexing Transylvania, 
a region lying within the borders of Austria-Hungary 



Russia, Roumania, Italy 113 

but inhabited by more than two million Roumanians, 
and they made promises of military assistance that 
were never carried out. 

RoumamVs point of danger was the Bulgarian bound- 
ary between the Danube and the Black Sea. Here she 
could have concentrated her strength for defense against 
the Bulgarian forces or even for an offensive into Bul- 
garia. Trusting, however, to Russia's false promises 
of assistance, she sent most of her armies west into 
Transylvania. Presently a strong force of Germans and 
Bulgarians crossed the border into southeastern Rou- 
mania (the Dobrudja) and marched north in a resistless 
offensive. Meanwhile the Roumanian troops in Transyl- 
vania, far from their base of supplies, had advanced too 
fast for safety. Moreover, they suffered from a shortage 
of ammunition, due largely to delays in Russia. A 
large German army attacked the Roumanian forces 
and drove them back with heavy losses across their 
own borders. Soon the greater part of the country 
was occupied by the Germans. This disaster brought 
enormous advantages to the enemy. The battle front 
of the Central Powers was shortened by five hundred 
miles, the oil and wheat fields which constitute the 
chief wealth of Roumania fell into their hands, and 
their communications with Turkey were materially 
strengthened. 

The Italian Front. — The winter of 1915-1916 was 
uncommonly severe in the Alps; snow thirty feet deep 
lay on some of the passes, and military operations were 



ii4 The War in 1916 

brought almost to a standstill. During the spring the 
Austrians made preparations for a great offensive against 
Italy, collecting over a third of a million of men and 
enormous stores of provisions and munitions. During 
May and June, 19 16, this Austrian force drove back 
the Italians from their advanced positions in the Trentino 
valley. It seemed that the enemy would enter the 
valley of the Po and capture the cities of the most pros- 
perous part of Italy. But the farther the Austrian 
army advanced, the more difficult it was to bring sup- 
plies up the narrow Alpine valleys. Meantime, on the 
eastern frontier the Russians began their great drive 
into Austrian territory. There was nothing for the 
Austrians to do but retire from the Trentino front. 
This they did with the loss of one third of their force, 
and of great quantities of war material. 

The Italians now took the offensive, not only on the 
Trentino, but also on their eastern frontier, where, 
the year before, they had begun an advance toward the 
" unredeemed" territory around Trieste (map, page 50). 
The Ison'zo River was crossed and after months of 
warfare the city and fortresses of Gorizia (go-rit'si-a) 
were occupied (August 9, 1916). From this point the 
Italians continued slowly, overcoming great difficulties, 
on their way toward Trieste. 

The Battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916. — A minor 
division of the British fleet under Admiral Beatty was 
scouting in the neighborhood of Jutland (the peninsula 
of Denmark). The main German fleet came out to 



Naval Operations 115 

attack it. The small British squadron, instead of 
withdrawing, gave battle to the whole German high 
seas fleet. After the fighting had gone on for several 
hours in fog and mist, the British grand fleet approached, 
but night came on before a decision was reached. Dur- 
ing the night the German fleet retired back of the 
defenses of mines and shore batteries. In the battle 
the British fleet had lost three battle cruisers and fifteen 
or sixteen other vessels. The German losses were not 
completely published but were certainly heavier. The 
Germans claimed a victory, and a general holiday was 
ordered that all might celebrate. Nevertheless, the 
British vessels were on the scene the next morning 
picking up survivors, while the German fleet did not 
again come out of harbor in order that it might try to 
repeat its so-called victory. 

Submarine Warfare. — During the year 1916 Germans 
continued with increasing success their policy of sinking 
merchant vessels, neutral and enemy. Out of a total of 
nearly 4,000,000 tons of shipping destroyed from the 
beginning of the war to January 1, 191 7, more than 
half was lost during 19 16. Occasional loss of life also 
caused much doubt on the part of our government as to 
whether Germany was keeping her pledge to safeguard 
the lives of noncombatants on torpedoed liners. 

When a passenger steamer, the "Sussex," plying 
between England and France, was torpedoed without 
warning (March 24, 1916), eighty of the passengers 
were killed or injured, two of the latter being Americans. 



n6 The War in 1916 

Germany at first said that one of her submarines had 
torpedoed a vessel in the vicinity, but not the "Sussex." 
The finding of fragments of a German torpedo on the 
"Sussex" after it was brought into port conclusively 
proved that the Germans were responsible, and that 
Germany had broken her promise. President Wilson 
addressed a note to the German government, stating 
that he would sever diplomatic relations with it unless 
Germany should both declare and effect an abandonment 
of her unlawful methods of submarine warfare. There- 
upon the German government gave a written pledge 
that merchant ships "shall not be sunk without warning 
and without saving human lives, unless these ships 
attempt to escape or offer resistance." This pledge was 
given on the condition that the United States should 
demand that Great Britain observe certain (disputed) 
rules of international law; but our government refused 
to agree that Germany's respect for our neutral rights 
should be made to depend on the conduct of other 
nations. President Wilson thus made clear his intention 
to sever diplomatic relations if Germany's pledge should 
be withdrawn or violated. 

Conscription in Great Britain. — The British govern- 
ment had kept up its army by volunteering. The need 
of an army of five million could not depend on this 
plan. A conscription bill therefore was passed making 
all males between certain ages liable for military service. 
Ireland was excepted from the provisions of this act. 

Sinn Fein Rebellion. — Some of the more radical 



Sinn Fein Rebellion 117 

among the Irish Home Rule party had formed an or- 
ganization known as the Sinn Fein (shin fan), an Irish 
phrase which means "for ourselves.' 5 Their aim was 
to make Ireland an independent nation. The leaders of 
this group got into correspondence with persons in 
Germany and were promised military assistance if they 
would rebel against England. The rebellion broke out 
April 24, 1 91 6, without the promised help from Germany. 
For several days the rebels held some of the principal 
buildings in Dublin. After much bloodshed the rebellion 
was put down, and Sir Roger Casement, one of those 
who had been in communication with Germany, was 
executed for treason. 

Suggestions for Study. — i. On an outline map of Europe 
indicate the countries engaged in the war at the end of 1916. 
Indicate the date of the entrance of each and the side on which 
it was fighting. 2. Collect pictures illustrative of life in the 
Balkans and of the war in that region. 3. Locate Armenia. 
What do you know of the race and religion of its population? 
4. Where is Bagdad? Why is it important for the British Empire 
that the valley of the Tigris-Euphrates should not fall into the 
possession of a strong hostile power? What do you know of the 
history of this region in ancient times? What may become of 
Mesopotamia at the close of the war? 5. In regard to Roumania 
tell what you know of its race, language, religion, and industries 
prior to the war. Compare this country with Bulgaria in regard 
to the facts you have mentioned. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; Study of the Great 
War (C. P. I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of 
the War; New York Times History of the European War. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE WAR IN 1917 

The Western Front. — During the winter of 191 6- 
191 7 there was little infantry warfare in France, although 
the heavy guns kept up their cannonades. In the 
spring of 191 7 the Allies planned a great drive on the 
enemy positions in the valley of the Somme. But in 
March the Germans began a general retirement to a 
more easily defended line — the so-called Hindenburg 
line — on a front of one hundred miles, from Arras 
(ar-rahss') to Soissons (swan-sawn'). 1 Completely de- 
stroying the villages, churches, castles, vineyards, and 
orchards, they left a desolate waste behind them. In 
this retreat the Germans gave up French territory to 
the extent of thirteen hundred square miles. 

The German retirement was closely followed by British 
and French troops. Great courage was shown by 
Canadian troops in the taking of Vimy Ridge on April 9. 
In the following month many attacks were made by the 
British and French, which resulted in the taking of 
nearly 50,000 prisoners and large quantities of munitions, 
and the breaking through the Hindenburg line in one 
place. During the summer and fall the Allied attacks 
continued to win small territorial gains. The artillery 

1 The Hindenburg line was very nearly the same as the battle line 
of Jan. 1, 1918, as shown on the map, page 145. 

118 



The Western Front 119 

fire was very heavy during all this time. During a 
period of three weeks the French city of Rheims (reemz 
or ranss) alone, with its magnificent cathedral almost in 
ruins, was bombarded with 65,000 large caliber German 
shells. 

Two very important ridges, from which artillery 
could reach German positions, were taken during the 
heavy fighting in November. The French forced a 
retreat of the Germans over a thirteen-mile front and 
occupied the ridge known as Chemin des Dames 
(shman da dahm); while the Canadians secured Pass- 
chendaele (pahss-ken-deTa) Ridge. 

Late in the year the British introduced a new method 
of warfare. Instead of beginning their attack with a 
great bombardment lasting many hours and thus 
indicating to the enemy the approximate time and place 
of attack, they sent over the front a large number of 
" tanks" which broke through the barbed wire entangle- 
ments and opened the way for the infantry. By this 
means the British successfully surprised the enemy in 
the battle of Cambrai (cahn-bre'; November 20 to 
December 13). Unfortunately they could not hold 
most of the land occupied, — which was lost later in 
the battle, — but they did show the possibility of 
breaking the old deadlock of trench fighting. The new 
method was to be used by both sides during the 
campaigns of the following year. 

The War in the Air. — During this year warfare in 
the air continued to advance. Guynemer (geen-mer'), 



120 The War in 191 7 

the great French ace, who was lost on September 11, 
had to his credit the destruction of fifty-four enemy 
machines. The increase in the number of airplanes led 
to the grouping of large numbers into regular formations 
(escadrilles) , sometimes composed of over a hundred 
planes. Each year showed a steady increase in the 
effectiveness of this kind of warfare. In 1916 a total of 
611 enemy machines had been destroyed or damaged by 
the Allied forces. In 191 7 the French destroyed forty- 
three in twenty-four hours; and the British brought 
down thirty-one enemy planes in one combat. In a 
single week in 1918 the Allies destroyed 339 German 
planes. On one day, October 9, 191 8, three hundred 
and fifty airplanes were sent forth by the American 
a^my in a single bombing expedition. 

The Russian Revolution. — In 191 7 the Allied cause 
received a heavy blow through the collapse of the 
Russian government. Long before the war there had 
been parties in Russia which desired to do away with 
the autocratic government of the Czar and substitute 
some sort of representative system which would give to 
the people a voice in the management of their affairs. 
These reforming parties did not agree among themselves 
as to the kind of government they wished to set up; 
their ideas extended from limited monarchy of the 
English type, all the way to anarchy, which means no 
government at all. In 1905 the Czar met the wishes of 
the reformers to the extent of establishing the Duma, a 
sort of representative assembly or parliament, which 



The Russian Revolution 121 

should help in making the laws. The Duma, however, 
was never given any real authority, and as time passed 
those who believed in Russian democracy became more 
and more dissatisfied. 

During the war the Germans by means of bribery and 
plotting did all they could to weaken the authority 
of the Russian government. There existed, moreover, 
much corruption and disloyalty among high Russian offi- 
cials. As the war dragged on a shortage of food added 
to the general discontent. By the early months of 191 7, 
conditions were very bad indeed, and dissatisfied crowds 
gathered in the streets of Petrograd. Hunger and 
hardship had made them desperate, and they refused to 
disperse until the government should do something 
to relieve the situation. Regiments of soldiers were 
summoned to fire upon the crowd. They refused to 
do so and finally joined the mob. Thus began the 
Russian Revolution. 

At a meeting of the revolutionists a group of soldiers 
and working men was selected to call upon the Duma 
and ask that body to form a temporary government. 
Another committee was sent to inform Nicholas II 
that he was deposed. Messages were sent to the armies 
to notify the generals that there was no longer a Russian 
Empire and that they were to take their orders thereafter 
from the representatives of the Russian people. Within 
a few days the revolution was complete. On March 15, 
the Czar signed a paper giving up the throne of Russia. 
Moderate reformers were placed in charge of the different 



122 The War in 191 7 

departments of the government. The new government 
was recognized by the United States, Great Britain, 
France, and Italy. It looked as if the revolution had 
established a free government for Russia and that 
thenceforth, as a democratic nation, she would fight 
better than ever by the side of her allies. In all the 
Russian provinces, elections were called for choosing 
delegates to an assembly that should make a new 
constitution for Russia. 

Russia under Kerensky. — Meanwhile the extreme 
socialists began at once to make trouble for the new 
government. These men for the most part owned no 
property and wanted all wealth equally divided among 
the entire population. They considered the new govern- 
ment as tyrannical as that of the Czar had been. They 
also favored an immediate peace. Chief among the 
moderate leaders during this period was Alexander 
Kerensky. He saw the necessity of keeping the revolu- 
tion within bounds. For a while he was strong enough 
to maintain a moderate government in spite of the 
opposition of the extreme socialists. The Germans, 
meanwhile, through spies and secret agents, had been 
spreading among the Russian soldiers the idea that 
Germany was really their friend and that it was to their 
interest to stop fighting and retreat. Kerensky per- 
sonally visited the battle front in Galicia, and for a time 
by means of his rousing speeches to the soldiers kept up 
their fighting spirit. New advances were made, the 
Germans and Austrians being driven back many miles. 



The Russian Revolution 123 

Lemberg itself seemed about to fall once more into the 
hands of the Russians. But this success was only 
temporary. Owing to the shortage of ammunition and 
the rapid spread of peace sentiments among the troops, 
the Russian army became disorganized and retreated 
from Galicia. 

The Bolsheviki. — Bolsheviki (bol-she-ve-kee') is the 
name given to the extreme socialistic party in Russia. 
From the beginning they had opposed the control of 
affairs by the moderate revolutionists under Kerensky. 
At last, in the fall of 191 7, helped by the depression 
caused by the German advance and by the strikes and 
food riots which once more broke out in the capital, 
they succeeded in winning over to their side the Petro- 
grad garrison and the navy, and drove Kerensky from 
the city (November 7). Their revolt was led by two 
of the most extreme members of the party, Lenin 
(lyen'in) and Trotzky, who had at their disposal large 
sums of money furnished by Germany. 

No sooner were the Bolsheviki in control than they 
announced themselves in favor of an immediate peace. 
They proclaimed that all the land should at once be 
divided among the peasants. When the new repre- 
sentative assembly met to make a constitution, it was 
found to be too moderate to suit the Bolshevik leaders, 
who dispersed it before it could accomplish anything. 
The rule of Lenin and Trotzky promised to be even 
more tyrannical than anything that had preceded it in 
Russia. 



124 



The War in 191 7 



Meanwhile the Bolsheviki had arranged for an armis- 
tice with Germany with a view toward immediate 
negotiations for peace. This arrangement for the 
cessation of military operations became effective Decem- 
ber 7. In spite of its provisions, however, the Germans, 
who had taken Riga (ree'ga) in September, continued 
their advance into Russian territory. By the close of 




' if ^k *% f $* T E UROPE AN 
'ISS^* A ' A BATTLE FRONTS 



l00 20U 300 400 

■on Farthest Advance of Russians 

and Roumanians. 1914-1916 
— tmwm Battle Front, December 1917 



Operations in Turkey 125 

191 7 peace negotiations were in progress between Russia 
and her enemies. Russia under Bolshevik control had 
definitely deserted her allies. 

The British in Mesopotamia. — It will be remembered 
that the Allied war plans in 19 16 had included the 
junction of Russian armies operating from the Caucasus 
with British troops advancing north from the Persian 
Gulf. After the disaster at Kut-el-Amara the British 
still held the territory about the mouth of the Tigris. 
In January, 191 7, they began a new advance up the 
river in the direction of Bagdad. This time their efforts 
proved successful. In February, Kut-el-Amara was 
retaken from the Turks, and on March 11 the British 
entered the city of Bagdad. They also continued their 
advance a considerable distance along the Bagdad 
Railway and occupied much of the Euphrates valley. 

Still more important victories would probably have 
resulted from this campaign had it not been for the 
outbreak of the Russian revolution. This had the 
effect of weakening Russian military cooperation, and 
finally of removing Russia entirely from the war, leaving 
to Great Britain alone the task of dealing with the 
Turkish armies in Asia. But the British kept their 
hold on the city of Bagdad, thus checkmating the Ger- 
man scheme of a Berlin-Bagdad railway and protecting 
India from any offensive on this side. 

The Palestine Campaign. — The year 191 7 witnessed 
still another military success for the British in Asia. 
The Turks had made several attempts to seize the 



126 The War in 191 7 

Suez Canal and so inflict a serious blow against the 
communications of the Allies with the Far East. To 
remove, if possible, the danger of further threats against 
this vital spot, the English at last decided upon an 
offensive in that region. Early in 191 7, the British 
advance began. During January and February im- 
portant positions on the Sinai peninsula were seized. 
This success was followed by a slow progress north into 
Palestine. The resistance of the Turks was powerful 
and the British met with serious reverses. The terrible 
heat of the summer months further held up their opera- 
tions. In the fall, however, the advance was resumed 
and a number of towns in the Holy Land fell into the 
hands of the British. In November, Jaffa, the seaport 
of Jerusalem, was taken. All the Turkish positions 
around the Holy City were carried by storm, and 
on December 10 Jerusalem surrendered to General 
Allenby. 

This successful campaign in Palestine had several 
important results. The capture of Jerusalem after 
almost seven centuries of Turkish control led to general 
rejoicing among the Allied nations. Large numbers of 
Jews throughout the world, who had long looked forward 
to the reestablishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine, 
now felt that a long step had been taken toward the 
realization of their hopes. From a military point of 
view, however, the chief result of the British campaign 
in Palestine was that it definitely freed the Suez Canal 
from further danger of a Turkish attack. 



The Italian Front 127 

The Offensive against Italy. — At the beginning of 
191 7 the Italian forces were within eleven miles of their 
great objective, the city and port of Trieste. During 
the late spring and summer the advance continued. 
Austrian trenches were occupied and tens of thousands 
of Austrian soldiers were captured. After two years 
of effort it seemed that the Italians would obtain 
the city and incorporate its population — very largely 
Italian — into the kingdom of Italy. But conditions 
in Austria and Germany had greatly changed. The 
cessation of war by Russia relieved the Central Powers 
of the necessity of keeping large armies on the eastern 
front. Further, the campaign had been going against 
Germany on the western front, and an easy victory in 
Italy might quiet criticism at home. 

An immense army of Austrians and Germans was 
gathered together to attack the Italian forces. The 
Italians were spread out in a semicircle about one 
hundred and fifty miles long stretching from near Trent 
to within a few miles of Trieste. The Austrians con- 
trolled the upper passes in the mountains, so that they 
could attack this long line where they would. Thus the 
Italian military position was difficult to defend. The 
campaign began with a surprise attack by picked Ger- 
man troops at a point where the morale of one Italian 
division had previously been weakened by the pretended 
fraternizing of Austrian troops. 

The Austro-German drive (October-December, 191 7) 
swiftly undid the work of two years of most arduous en- 



28 



The War in 191 7 



deavor. The Italians were forced back from Gorizia and 
compelled to surrender mountain positions which had been 
captured by them at enormous cost. Back across the 
boundary they retreated, losing heavily in men and ma- 
terial. The enemy advanced into the low country near 
Venice, and it seemed for a time that the city would fall 
into their hands. But British and French assistance was 
sent to Italy, the Italian army recovered its spirit, and 
a permanent check was put to the enemy's advance before 
Venice was reached. Upon a much shorter but more 
defensible line the Italians held the enemy at bay in 
the mountains and along the river Piave (pyah'va). 

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. — On January 31, 
191 7, the German ambassador to the United States, 

Count von Bern- 
storff, announced 
to President Wil- 
son that Germany 
would begin unre- 
stricted submarine 
warfare the follow- 
ing day, in the 
waters around 
Great Britain and 
France, 1 thus with- 
drawing the pledge 
given as a result of 

1 Except that the United States, on certain conditions, might send 
one ship a week to Falmouth. 




160 260 360 460 



Submarine Warfare 129 

the sinking of the "Sussex." Three days later the 
President handed Count von Bernstorff his passports 
and recalled Ambassador Gerard' from Berlin, thus 
severing diplomatic relations with Germany. 

During the next six months shipping was sunk at 
an average rate of 600,000 tons per month, three times 
as fast as before, and two or three times faster than it 
was being replaced. The highwater mark was reached 
in April, when 800,000 tons of shipping were destroyed. 
Unless this loss could be greatly reduced the Allies 
for want of food and materials would soon have to give 
up fighting. 

But methods were quickly devised to combat the 
new danger. The patrols were increased, ships voy- 
aged* under convoy of fast destroyers constantly hover- 
ing about on the watch for submarines, and other 
protective measures were taken, so that the submarine 
menace was soon much reduced. By September, 1918, 
the sinkings were only about 150,000 tons a month, 
while the production of ships, especially in the United 
States, increased to several times this amount. 

Apparently Germany had waited until she had built 
a large number of submarines, thinking that by the 
use of a great fleet of them in a ruthless warfare on 
shipping she could force a peace within a few months. 
In this expectation she was disappointed. The principal 
result of the withdrawal of her pledge to this country 
was the entrance of the United States into the war on 
the side of the Allies. Captain Persius, an expert 



130 The War in 191 7 

German naval critic, admitted in November, 1917, 
that the German admiralty was grossly mistaken in 
its calculations and that Germany had no reason for 
believing in the decisive influence of the submarine war. 

The United States Drifts toward War. — The break- 
ing off of diplomatic relations is not a declaration of 
war. Nevertheless the events immediately succeed- 
ing the withdrawal of Count von Bernstorff made a 
declaration of war increasingly probable. The most 
important of these were the publication of the Zimmer- 
mann note, the fact that several American merchant 
ships were actually sunk by German submarines, and 
the discovery that members of the German embassy 
and other German diplomatic representatives had been 
concerned in plotting on United States soil against 
the Allies, thus endangering our peaceful relations with 
them. Not only so, but there was evidence that plots 
had been laid to destroy American lives and property 
in this country and to stir up internal disorders, such 
as strikes and riots. 

The Zimmermann Note. — On the last day of Feb- 
ruary, the Secretary of State published a note that 
had come into his possession which was addressed by 
Dr. Zimmermann, the German foreign minister, to the 
German minister in Mexico. The note stated that 
Germany would soon begin a ruthless submarine war- 
fare and proposed, if the United States should declare 
war on Germany, that Mexico should enter into an 
alliance with Germany. Germany was to furnish 



The United States 131 

money and Mexico was to reconquer New Mexico, 
Texas, and Arizona. It was also hinted that Mexico 
should suggest to Japan that the latter country should 
come into the agreement. The interesting thing about 
the note is that it was dated January 19, twelve 
days before Germany announced to us her plan for 
ruthless submarine warfare, and during a time when 
our relations with Germany, though under a great 
strain, were still peaceable. 

Armed Neutrality. — About the time the Zimmer- 
mann note was published, President Wilson asked Con- 
gress to authorize the arming of American merchant 
ships for their own defense. A small minority in Con- 
gress by their obstructive tactics prevented the passage 
of the desired resolution before Congress expired on 
March 4. On March 12 the President announced 
that this country had determined to place an armed 
guard on all United States merchant vessels, which 
under international law might defend themselves from 
attack, although Germany denied this right. There 
is no evidence, however, that there was any encounter 
between these armed ships and German vessels prior to 
the outbreak of the war. 

The President's War Message. — When Russia de- 
posed the Czar and established a democratic govern- 
ment, in March, 191 7, the last reason was removed 
which might have held us back from a declaration of 
war. Many believed that it would have been illogical 
for us to fight for democracy side by side with one of 



132 The War in 191 7 

the greatest of autocracies. President Wilson called 
Congress in special session and on April 2 delivered 
his famous war message, asking Congress to declare 
that a state of war existed between the United States 
and Germany. 

In the message he told of the various acts of Germany 
which had led up to the verge of war, recited the steps 
which our government had taken to bring Germany to 
realize the inevitable results of her crimes against civi- 
lization, and concluded by asking Congress to declare 
war. The President stated that the aims of the United 
States in the war are : 

1. That the people of every nation may determine 
the form of government under which they wish to live. 

2. That the small nations may have the right to exist 
and be protected against aggression. 

3. That the future peace of the world may be guar- 
anteed through the formation of a league of nations. 

4. That the world may be made safe for democracy. 
The Declaration of War. — In accordance with the 

recommendation of the President, Congress declared 
war against Germany on April 6, 191 7. War was not 
declared at this time against Germany's allies, Austria, 
Turkey, and Bulgaria. A few days later, however, at 
the instance of Germany, Austria and Turkey broke off 
diplomatic relations. On December 7, 191 7, the United 
States declared war on Austria-Hungary. 

Following the declaration of war with Germany, 
steps were at once taken to put the country in a posi- 



Spanish America 133 

tion to give effective aid to our associates, and the 
President from time to time requested Congress to 
grant authority to do those things that would enable 
us to take an active part in the war. 

Other Countries Enter the War. — After the United 
States entered the war, many other countries, especially 
Brazil and some of the Spanish American countries, 
either broke off relations with Germany or declared 
war against her. Most of these countries had close 
commercial relationships with the United States, which 
would have been seriously interfered with had they 
remained neutral. 

Spurlos Versenkt. — The decision of some of the 
South American countries to side against Germany 
was probably hastened by a typical piece of German 
bad faith. Argentina was at peace with Germany. 
In spite of that fact, the German minister at Buenos 
Aires (the Argentine capital) telegraphed to his govern- 
ment that if possible Argentine ships should be spared, 
but if not, they should be sunk without leaving a trace 
("spurlos versenkt)." This would involve the drowning 
or murdering of the crews, so that there would be no 
inconvenient protest on the part of the Argentine 
government. It should be added that at the request 
of the German minister, the Swedish minister at Buenos 
Aires sent these dispatches in code as if they were his 
own private messages. In this way the German min- 
ister was able to have them sent over cable lines con- 
trolled by the Allies. 



134 The War in 191 7 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. What is a "tank"? What are 
small tanks called? 2. Define socialism; Bolsheviki. 3. On a 
map of Europe show Germany and her allies in black. Mark 
with black lines other territory held or controlled by the Central 
Powers at the close of 191 7. 4. On a map of southern Europe 
show Italy's farthest advance into Austrian territory in 191 7. 
5. Collect pictures of Rheims Cathedral, before and after being 
bombarded by the Germans; also pictures of other places de- 
stroyed by bombardments. Get pictures of different sorts of 
tanks and airplanes, of destroyers and Eagle boats. 6. What 
was the object of the Germans in devastating the country when 
they retreated to the Hindenburg line? 7. Why did Germany 
think Mexico and Japan might join her in an attack on the United 
States? 8. What was the date on which the United States de- 
clared war on Germany? 9. Why did not the United States 
declare war on Turkey or Bulgaria? 10. Make a list of the coun- 
tries of South America and Central America that declared war 
on Germany. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; The Study of the 
Great War (C. P. I.) ; War, Labor, and Peace (C. P. I.) ; How 
the War came to America (C. P. I.); The War Message and 
the Facts Behind It (C. P. I.); New York Times History of 
the European War. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE WAR IN 1918 

Failure of German Peace Offensive. — During the 
fall of 191 7 Germany had started a great discussion of 
the terms of the peace which should close the war. In 
general the position taken by German spokesmen was 
"peace without annexations and without indemnities," 
as proposed by the Russian Bolsheviki. Such talk 
was designed to weaken the war spirit of the Allied 
peoples, and perhaps to make the German people be- 
lieve that they were fighting a war of self-defense. The 
time was ripe for a statement of the war aims of Ger- 
many's opponents. This statement, later approved in 
general by Allied statesmen, was made by President 
Wilson in his address to Congress on January 8, 1918. 
It is discussed in detail in Chapter XIV. It was not sat- 
isfactory to Germany's rulers, for they hoped to secure 
better terms in a peace of bargains and compromises. 

Russia Makes a Separate Peace. — Only in Russia 
was this German peace offensive a success. In the 
last chapter we saw how in the latter part of 191 7 
the Bolsheviki had gained control of the government of 
Russia and had arranged an armistice with the Central 
Powers. This meant the stopping of all fighting along 
the eastern front and the consequent freeing of many 
thousands of German soldiers to fight in the west. 

135 



136 The War in 1918 

At Brest-Litovsk, a town in Russian Poland which 
had been occupied by the troops of the Central Powers, 
a meeting of delegates was called to arrange the terms 
of peace. The negotiations at this place lasted from 
December 23, 1917, to February 10, 1918. The Ger- 
mans had determined to keep large portions of Russian 
territory. At the conference the German delegates 
flatly refused to promise to withdraw their troops from 
the occupied parts of Russia after the peace. By 
February 10 hope of any settlement that would satisfy 
Russia had disappeared and the Bolshevik delegates 
left Brest-Litovsk. The war, so far as Russia was 
concerned, was at an end, but no treaty of peace had 
been signed. The Bolshevik government issued orders 
for the complete demobilization of the Russian armies 
on all the battle fronts. 

Germany, determined to compel Russia to accept her 
terms, renewed her military operations on February 18. 
The result was that Lenin and Trotzky, the Bolshevik 
leaders, were forced to agree to the conditions which 
had been laid down by the Central Powers at Brest- 
Litovsk. Nevertheless the Germans continued their 
advance, with practically no opposition, to within 
seventy miles of Petrograd. 

The Separation of Ukrainia and Finland. — Ukrainia, 
the southwestern corner of Russia, is the home of a 
Slavic people — the Little Russians — closely akin to 
the Russians proper. The people of Finland, in the 
extreme northwest, are of a distinctly different race. In 



Russia Makes a Separate Peace 



137 



both these regions there were set up independent govern- 
ments which resisted the rule of the Bolsheviki. With 
the aid of German 




troops the power 
of the Bolsheviki in 
the new states was 
soon destroyed. 
Through the set- 
ting up of these 
states, particularly 
Ukrainia, Germany 
hoped to secure 
grain supplies, and 
to control large iron 
and coal deposits. 
Dissatisfaction of 
the people with 
German control, 
however, interfered 
seriously with the 
realizing of such 
hopes. 

The Peace of Brest-Litovsk. — On March 3 peace 
between Russia and the Central Powers was finally 
signed at Brest-Litovsk. By the terms of the treaties 
Russia was compelled (1) to surrender her western prov- 
inces of Poland, Lithuania, Livonia, Esthonia, and 
Courland; (2) to recognize the independence of Ukrainia 
and Finland; (3) to cede to Turkey certain important 



138 The War in 1918 

districts south of the Caucasus Mountains; 1 and (4) to 
pay a tremendous indemnity. The falsity of the German 
talk of "no annexations and no indemnities" was now 
evident. Few more disastrous treaties have ever been 
forced upon a vanquished nation. It has been estimated 
that the treaties of Brest-Li to vsk took from Russia 
4 per cent of her total area, 26 per cent of her population, 
37 per cent of her food stuffs production, 26 per cent of 
her railways, 33 per cent of her manufacturing indus- 
tries, 75 per cent of her coal, and 73 per cent of her iron. 

Roumania Makes Peace. — Roumania, deserted by 
Russia, was forced to make peace in the spring of 1918, 
by ceding to her enemies the whole of the Dobrudja and 
also about 3000 square miles of territory on her western 
frontier. The Central Powers, moreover, were given 
control of the vast petroleum fields and the rich wheat 
lands of the defeated nation. 

A little later, however, the Russian province of 
Bessarabia decided to unite itself to Roumania, as 
most of its people are of the Roumanian race. 

The Russian Situation in 1918. — In spite of the 
Brest-Litovsk treaties, the Allies continued to regard 
Russia as a friendly nation. President Wilson took the 
lead in this attitude. It was felt that the Russian peo- 
ple were sadly in need of assistance, but just how this 
should be given was a serious problem. 

1 After driving the Russians out of Asia Minor and taking, the 
districts ceded to Turkey, the Turkish forces went on and seized 
nearly all of the southern Caucasus before October, 191 8. 



The Russian Situation 139 

The question was complicated by the presence in 
Russia of a large army of Czecho-Slovaks (check'o-slo- 
vaks'). These soldiers were natives of the northwestern 
Slavic provinces of Austria-Hungary. They had been 
part of the Austrian army during the victorious Rus- 
sian campaigns in Galicia and had been taken prisoners. 
The Czecho-Slovaks had always sympathized with the 
Allied countries and had fought for Austria unwillingly. 
Many, indeed, had later fought as part of the Russian 
army. When Russia left the war they feared that they 
might be returned to the hated Austrian government. 
To avoid this their leaders sought and obtained from 
the Bolshevik government permission to travel east- 
ward through Russia and Siberia to the Pacific. Here 
they planned to take ship and after a voyage three 
quarters around the globe take their place in the armies 
of the Allies. The long journey began. Then the 
Bolsheviki, probably acting under German orders, re- 
called the permission they had given. The Czecho- 
slovaks went on nevertheless, determined to proceed 
even if they had to fight their way. They were opposed 
at different points by Bolshevik troops with the assist- 
ance of organized bodies of German and Austrian 
prisoners, but the Czecho-Slovaks were victorious. In 
fact, with the aid of anti-Bolshevik Russians they seized 
control of most of the Siberian railroad, and of parts of 
eastern Russia. 

Allied Intervention in Russia. — At last the Allied 
nations and the United States decided that it was 



140 The War in 1918 

time to undertake military intervention in Russia. 
This was carried out in two places. Bodies of American 
and Japanese troops were landed on the east coast 
of Siberia to cooperate with the Czecho-Slovaks. The 
latter, thus reenforced, changed their plans for leaving 
Russia and decided to fight for the Allied cause where 
they were. They were encouraged by the fact that 
they were recognized by the Allies and by the United 
States as an independent nation. 

Another small Allied army was landed on the north 
coast of Russia and marched south against the Bolshev- 
iki. Large parts of Russia north and east of Moscow 
declared themselves free of Bolshevik rule. It was 
the hope of the Allies that that rule — now marked 
by pillage, murder, and famine — would shortly be 
overthrown and that a new Russia would rise and take 
its place among the democracies of the world. 

The Western Front. — Early in 1918, after the failure 
of the German peace offensive in the west, rumors 
came from Germany of preparations for a great military 
drive on the western front. The "iron fist" and the 
"shining sword" were to break in the doors of those 
who opposed a German-made peace. There were good 
reasons for such an attack in the spring of 19 18. Ger- 
many had withdrawn many troops from the east, where 
they were no longer needed to check the Russians. 
Further, although a few American troops had reached 
France, it was thought that not many could be sent 
over before the fall of 191 8, and the full weight of 



The Western Front 141 

America's force could not be exerted before the summer 
of 19 1 9. It was to Germany's interest to crush France 
and England before the power of the American nation 
was thrown into the struggle against her. 

Germany's New Plan of Attack. — The German 
military leaders therefore determined to stake every- 
thing upon one grand offensive on the western front 
while their own force was numerically superior to 
that of the Allies. Their expectation of victory in 
what they proudly called the " Kaiser's battle," was 
based not only upon the possession of greater num- 
bers, but also upon the introduction of new methods 
of fighting which would overcome the old trench 
warfare. The new methods comprised three principal 
features. 

In the first place, much greater use was made of the 
element of surprise. Large masses of men were brought 
up near the front by night marches, and in daytime 
were hidden from airplane observation by smoke 
screens, camouflage of various kinds, and by the shel- 
ter of woodlands. In this way any portion of the 
opposing trench line could be subjected to a heavy, 
unexpected attack. 

Secondly, the advance was prepared for by the use 
of big guns in enormous quantities and in new ways. 
The number of guns brought into use in this offensive 
far exceeded that put into the Verdun offensive of 191 6, 
which had been looked upon as the extreme of possible 
concentration of artillery. The shell fire was now 



142 The War in 191 8 

to be directed not only against the trenches, but also 
far to the rear of the Allied positions. This would 
break up roads, railways, and bridges for many miles 
behind the trenches and prevent the sending of rein- 
forcements up to the front. Vast numbers of large 
shells containing poisonous "mustard" gas were col- 
lected. These were to be fired from heavy guns and 
made to explode far behind the Allied lines. By this 
means suffocation might be spread among the reserves, 
among motor drivers, and even among the army mules, 
and by deranging the transport service make it impos- 
sible to concentrate troops to withstand the German 
advance. 

In the third place, "shock" troops composed of se- 
lected men from all divisions of the army, were to ad- 
vance after the bombardment, in a series of "waves." 
When the first wave had reached the limit of its strength 
and endurance, it was to be followed up by a second 
mass of fresh troops, and this by a third, and so on 
until the Allies' defense was completely broken. 

By their excess in numbers and by these newly devised 
methods of warfare the German leaders hoped to ac- 
complish three things: (1) to separate the British army 
from the French army; (2) to seize the Channel ports 
and interrupt by submarines and big guns the trans- 
portation of men and supplies from England to France; 
and (3) to capture Paris and compel the French to with- 
draw from the war. Let us now see how and why the 
Germans failed to secure any one of these three objec- 



The Western Front 143 

tives, and how the Allied forces resumed the offensive 
in the summer of 1918. 

The German Advance. — Five great drives, conducted 
according to the newly devised methods of warfare, 
were launched by the Germans between March 21 and 
July 15, 1 918. The first, continuing from March 21 to 
April 1, called the battle of Picardy, was directed at the 
point where the British army joined that of the French 
near the Somme River. There was at this time no uni- 
fied command of all the Allied armies, and the blow fell 
unexpectedly upon the British and won much territory 
before French assistance could be brought up. Out- 
numbered three to one, the British fell back at the point 
of greatest retreat to a distance of thirty miles from their 
former line. But the extreme tenacity of the British 
and the arrival of French troops prevented the Germans 
from capturing the important city of Amiens (ah-myan'), 
or reaching the main roads to Paris, or separating the 
British and French armies. Learning a needed lesson 
from this disaster, the Allied nations agreed to a unified 
military command, and appointed as commander-in-chief 
the French General Foch (fosh), who had distinguished 
himself in the first battle of the Marne in 19 14 and else- 
where. Before this step had been taken General Pershing 
had offered his small army of 200,000 Americans to be 
used wherever needed by the French and the British. 

The second German offensive began on April 9 and 
was again directed against the British, this time farther 
to the north, in Flanders, between the cities of Ypres 



144 The War in 191 8 

and Arras. In ten days the Germans advanced to a 
maximum depth of ten miles on a front of thirty miles. 
But the British fought most desperately and the Ger- 
man losses were enormous. At last the advance was 
checked and the Channel ports were saved. " Germany 
on the march had encountered England at bay" — and 
had failed to destroy the heroic British army. 

And now came a lull of over a month while the Germans 
were reorganizing their forces and preparing for a still 
greater blow. Again the element of surprise was em- 
ployed. The Allies expected another attack somewhere 
in„the line from Soissons to the sea, and their reserves 
were so disposed as to meet such an attack. But the 
third German drive was directed against the stretch 
from Rheims to Soissons, where a break might open 
the road to Paris from the east. It began on May 27. 
For over a week the French were pushed back, fighting 
valiantly, across land which had not seen the enemy since 
September, 19 14. The greatest depth of the German 
advance was thirty miles, that is, to Chateau-Thierry, 
within forty-four miles of Paris, where it was stopped by 
American marines and soldiers. The enemy had again 
reached the Marne River and controlled the main 
road from Paris to Verdun. 

The fourth drive started a few days later, on June 9, 
in a region where an attack was expected. It resulted 
in heavy losses to the Germans, who succeeded in push- 
ing only six miles toward Paris in the region between 
Soissons and Montdidier (mawn-dee-dya/) . The ad- 



The Western Front 



145 



vantages of a single command had begun to appear. 
General Foch could use all the Allied forces where they 
were most needed. 




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WESTERN FRONT 



SCALE OF MILES 

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mmm^mm Battle Line Jan. 1,1918 
*■■■ Battle Line July. 18, 1918 
Greatest German Advance 




The fifth drive opened on July 15 and spread over 
a front of one hundred miles east of Soissons. The 
Allies were fully prepared, and while falling back a little 
at first, the American and French troops soon won back 
some of the abandoned territory. 

The Turning of the Tide. — A glance at a map of the 
battle front of July 18 will show that the Germans had 
driven three blunt wedges into the Allied lines. These 



146 The War in 1918 

positions would prove dangerous to the Germans if ever 
the Allies were strong enough to assume the offensive. 
And just now the moment came for Foch to strike a 
great counter-blow. During the spring and early sum- 
mer American troops had been speeded across the 
Atlantic until by the Fourth of July over a million men 
were in France. On July 18 American and French 
troops attacked the Germans in the narrowest of the 
wedges, that along the Marne River, and within a few 
days compelled the enemy to retreat from this wedge. 
On August 8 a British army began a surprise attack on 
the middle wedge, and by the use of large numbers of 
light, swift tanks succeeded in driving the Germans back 
for a distance of over ten miles on a wide front. 

The offensive had now passed from the Germans to 
the Allies. Under Foch's repeated attacks the enemy 
was driven back first at one point and then at another. 
He had no time to prepare a counter-drive; he did not 
know where the next blow would fall. By the end of 
September he had given up nearly all his recent con- 
quests, devastating much of the country as he retired. 
In several places also he was forced still farther back, 
across the old Hindenburg line. In two days (Septem- 
ber 12-13) the Americans and French under General 
Pershing wiped out an old German salient (St. Mihiel) 
near Metz, taking 200 square miles of territory and 
15,000 prisoners. Altogether, by the end of September, 
Foch had taken over a quarter of a million prisoners, 
with 3,669 cannon and 23,000 machine guns. 



Italy, the Balkans, and Syria 147 

It is said that the complete defeat of the German 
plans was due primarily to three things: " (1) the dogged 
steadfastness of the British and the patient heroism of 
the French soldiers and civilians; (2) the brilliant strat- 
egy of General Foch, and the unity of command which 
made this effective; (3) the material and moral encour- 
agement of the American forces, of whom nearly 1,500,000 
were in France before the end of August." 

The War in Italy, the Balkans, and Syria. — The 
summer of 19 18 witnessed the launching of a great 
offensive by the Austrians against the Italian armies 
holding the Piave front. It is probable that the chief 
purpose of this blow was to draw Allied troops into 
Italy from the battle front in Belgium and France. 
The Italians, however, proved themselves amply able 
to fight their own battle, and the Austrian attempt was 
repulsed with tremendous losses. 

The autumn of this year saw important happenings 
on the Balkan front also. This theater of the war had 
been uneventful for a long time. The battle line ex- 
tended from the Adriatic Sea to the JEgean, and was 
held by a mixed army of Serbians, Greeks, Italians, 
British, and French, under the command of General 
D'Esperey (des-pra/), with headquarters at Salonica. 
Opposed to these troops were armies of Bulgarians 
and Austrians, together with a considerable number of 
Germans. Encouraged by the German defeats in the 
west, which had forced the withdrawal of large numbers 
of German troops from eastern Europe, the Allies 



148 The War in 1918 

launched a strong offensive on the Balkan front in the 
middle of September. Day after day their advance 
continued, resulting in the capture of many thousands 
of prisoners and the reoccupation of many miles of Al- 
banian and Serbian territory. The campaign was one of 
the most successful of the whole war. Within two weeks 
the Bulgarians asked for an armistice, accepted the terms 
that were demanded, and on September 30 definitely 
withdrew from the war. Their surrender broke the lines 
of communication between the Central Powers and 
Turkey and at one blow destroyed Teutonic supremacy 
in the Balkans. An even more important consequence 
was the moral effect on the general public in Germany, 
Austria, and Turkey, where it was taken by many as a 
sign that surrender of the Central Powers could only 
be a question of time. 

Meanwhile, events of almost equal importance were 
taking place in Palestine and Syria. General Allenby 
had taken Jerusalem in December, 191 7. In the fall 
of 1 9 18 new and important advances were made in this 
region, Arab forces east of the Jordan cooperating with 
the British armies. By the close of September more 
than 50,000 Turkish soldiers and hundreds of guns had 
been captured. In October General Allenby's men 
took the important cities of Damascus and Aleppo, 
and in Mesopotamia also the British began a new ad- 
vance. Turkey was already asking for an armistice, 
and now accepted terms that were virtually a complete 
surrender (October 31). 



The Western Front 149 

By this time Austria-Hungary was in the throes of 
dissolution; independent republics were being set up by 
the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Jugo-Slavs, and even 
the German Austrians. These revolutions were has- 
tened by the overwhelming victory of the Italians in 
the second battle of the Piave. Their attack began 
October 24 on the mountain front, but soon the Allied 
forces under General Diaz (dee'ahss) crossed the river 
and cut through the lines of the fleeing Austrians. In 
the capture of large numbers of prisoners and guns the 
Italians took full vengeance for their defeat of the pre- 
ceding year. So hopeless, indeed, was the situation 
for the Austrians that they too accepted an armistice 
that was practically a surrender (November 4). 

German Retreat in the West. — After the Germans 
had been driven back to their old lines in France, there 
was danger that the contest might settle down to the 
old form of trench warfare. But the intricate defenses 
of the Hindenburg line, in some cases extending to a 
depth of ten miles from the front trenches, did not 
prove strong enough to withstand the American and 
Allied advance. Foch attacked the line from each end 
and also in the center. In the north, by October 20, 
Belgian and British troops had recaptured all the 
Belgian coast, with its submarine bases; and the 
British had taken the important cities of Lens and 
Lille, the former valuable on account of its coal mines. 
In the center British and French troops broke through 
to the important points of Cambrai, St. Quentin 



150 The War in 1918 

(san-kahn-tan') and Laon (lahn), while farther east the 
Americans began an advance along the Meuse River, 
threatening to attack the German line in the rear. 

By this time it seemed likely that a general retire- 
ment from Belgium and France had been determined 
upon by the German leaders. Moreover, the impend- 
ing defeat of the German armies led to a new peace 
drive by the German government. On October 6 
President Wilson received a note from the German 
Chancellor asking for an armistice, requesting that 
the United States take steps for the restoration of 
peace, and stating that the German government ac- 
cepted as a basis for peace negotiations the program as 
laid down in the President's message to Congress of 
January 8, 19 18 (Chapter XIV), and in his subsequent 
addresses. President Wilson opposed any armistice 
till after the evacuation of Allied territory, or except as 
it might be arranged by military advisers on such terms 
as would make impossible the renewal of hostilities by 
Germany. He also called attention to the following 
point in his address of July 4, 19 18, — "The destruction 
of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately, 
secretly, and of its single choice disturb the peace of 
the world, or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at the 
least its reduction to virtual impotence"; — stated that 
the military autocracy still in control of Germany was 
such a power; and insisted on dealing only with a new 
or altered German government in which the repre- 
sentatives of the people should be the real rulers. 



The War in 1918 151 

On November n, while the German armies in France 
and Belgium were being defeated by the Allied and 
American forces, envoys from the German government 
accepted armistice terms imposed by Marshal Foch 
that meant virtually the surrender of Germany, and 
thus brought hostilities to an end. 

Germany was now undergoing revolution. Within a 
few days her emperor, kings, and dukes gave up their 
thrones, and the people began the formation of a new 
government. 

Suggestions for Study. — 1. What is the meaning of camou- 
flage? of smoke screen? What is a convoy? 2. On a map of 
the Western Front locate the five great German drives of 1918, 
numbering them from one to five. 3. On a physical map of the 
Balkan peninsula find the only good land route from the Danube 
to Constantinople, with its branch to Salonica. 4. Collect pic- 
tures showing American soldiers in camps; going to France; 
and in France. 5. What were the objects of the 1918 offensive 
of the Germans? 6. In what way did the American troops help 
besides increasing the number of soldiers fighting the Germans? 
7. What is the present condition of the western provinces of 
Russia? 8. What was the first important battle in which many 
American troops were engaged? 9. Why was the St. Mihicl 
salient important: (a) for the Germans to hold; (b) for the 
Allies and the United States to win? 10. Explain the impor- 
tance of Bulgaria's surrender. 

References. — War Cyclopedia (C. P. I.) ; The Study of the 
Great War (C. P. I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study 
of the War; The Correspondence between the Bolsheviki and the 
German Government (C. P. I.); National School Service, Vol. I 
(C. P. L). 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR 

Part of the Navy Sent to Europe. — One of the first 
things done after our entrance into the war was to send 
a considerable part of our navy to Europe, not only 
battleships to augment the fleet that was holding the 
German navy in check, but also a number of swift 
torpedo boats and destroyers to aid in reducing the 
menace from submarines. Huge appropriations were 
made by Congress for the purpose of increasing the 
number of lighter craft in the navy. Particularly effi- 
cient submarine chasers were developed, called " Eagles," 
which, by being made all alike, could be quickly pro- 
duced in great numbers. 

Raising the Army. — Great numbers of young men 
at once enlisted in various branches of the service. 
Profiting, however, by the experience of Great Britain, 
the government determined on conscription as a more 
democratic method of raising an army. A draft law 
was passed providing for the enrollment of all men 
between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one. These 
were examined and classified, and from time to time 
large groups were sent to camps to be trained. Each 
of these camps could take care of approximately fifty 
thousand soldiers. Under a later draft law passed in 
1 91 8, the age limits for enrolling men were extended to 
include those from eighteen to forty-five. 

152 



Creating an Army 153 

Officers' Training Camps. — In order to provide officers 
for such an emergency as now confronted the nation, 
training camps for officers had been established the 
previous year at several places in the country. These 
officers were now called upon to aid the regular army 
officers in training the recruits. The officers' training 
camps were continued and were increased in num- 
ber in order that a regular supply of properly trained 
officers might be available for the constantly increasing 
army. 

Supplies and Munitions. — The industries of the 
country were compelled to turn their attention to the 
making of supplies and munitions for our fighters. The 
great plants that had been making powder, guns, shells, 
and other munitions for the Allies started to make these 
things for the United States. This was easy to arrange, 
since England and France had about reached a position 
where they were able to supply themselves. Besides, 
great quantities of food and clothing were also needed, 
and the meat packers and the manufacturers of textiles, 
shoes, and other articles turned their plants to the pro- 
duction of supplies for the army. 

Aircraft. — The war in Europe had shown the high 
usefulness of aircraft as part of the military forces. 
Recognizing this, Congress appropriated two thirds of 
a billion dollars for the purpose of constructing thou- 
sands of airplanes and for training thousands of pilots 
and other experts to use them. Unfortunately much 
time was lost in building manufacturing plants and in 



154 The United States in the War 

experimenting with various types of engines and other 
parts of airplanes. Only a small part of the twenty 
thousand it had been planned to send to France by 
June, 19 1 8, were completed at that time. Meanwhile, 
however, engineers had developed, on the basis of the 
automobile engine, an improved engine known as the 
Liberty Motor, and the production of efficient airplanes 
was at last going ahead rapidly. 

Food and Fuel Control. — So large a proportion of 
the population of the European countries was employed 
in carrying on the war that there was a constant de- 
crease in the amount of food produced in Europe. 
Fortunately, up to 191 7 this country had enough for 
itself and sufficient to spare for the Allies and the neu- 
tral nations. In 191 7 there was an unusually short 
cereal crop all over the world. The result was that 
there was not enough food to go round, if every one in 
this country ate as much as usual. 

In order that proper conservation of food might be 
brought about, a food commission was created, not only 
to prevent profiteering, but also to direct how the people 
should economize in order to help win the war. Short- 
ages in various kinds of food were controlled at first 
through voluntary rationing under requests made by the 
Food Administrator. Later on, limits were placed on 
the amount of wheat, flour, and sugar that could be 
bought by large dealers and bakeries. A certain pro- 
portion of other cereals had to be purchased with each 
purchase of wheat. Bakers were required to make 



Food and Fuel Control 155 

their bread with a proportion of other flours mixed with 
the wheat. These regulations were enforced by such 
punishments as fines, the closing of stores or bakeries, 
or by depriving the offender of his supply for a given 
length of time. Kitchens were established in large 
communities where housewives could learn the best 
ways of making bread with the use of various substitutes 
for wheat. 

Early in the fall of 191 7 it was seen that, because of 
inadequate transportation facilities and of a tremen- 
dously increasing demand for coal by the war industries, 
there would be a shortage of fuel during the winter. 
Accordingly a Fuel Administrator was appointed who 
regulated the distribution of fuel. Industries essential 
to the war were supplied, while those that were not doing 
needful work had their supply reduced or cut off alto- 
gether. As it happened, the winter of 1917-1918 was 
exceedingly severe, freight congestion became worse 
and worse, and the shortage in the industrial centers 
was even greater than had been anticipated. The 
control of fuel saved the people of the northeastern 
section of our country from much distress, and assured a 
supply of fuel for war purposes. 

Later in 1918 householders and mercantile establish- 
ments were allowed only a portion of their usual coal 
supply, the number of stops made by street railway 
cars was reduced, and window and other display light- 
ing was forbidden on all but two nights in the week. 
An act of Congress directed that from the last Sunday 



156 The United States in the War 

in March till the last Sunday in October all clocks must 
be set one hour ahead of time. This regulation brought 
more of our activities into the daylight hours and so 
cut down the use of artificial light. By these methods 
much coal was conserved for the use of factories engaged 
in war work. 

Transportation Control. — Soon after war was de- 
clared, the railroads of the country put themselves at 
the disposal of the government in order to take care of 
the increase in transportation service required by the 
state of war. The nearly seven hundred railroads of 
the country were organized and run as a single system 
under the direction of a Railroads' War Board, com- 
posed of some of the chief railroad officials. 

Passenger train service was reduced, chiefly in order 
to provide for the transportation of several million 
soldiers to and from training camps. Freight cars and 
locomotives from one railroad were kept as long as 
they were needed in the service of another. The roads 
no longer competed with each other for freight, but 
goods were sent over the road that had, at the time of 
shipment, the most room for additional traffic. At the 
end of 191 7, as a measure of economy and to secure even 
greater unity of organization, the government took 
over the control of the railroads for the period of the 
war. As the first Director General of Railroads, the 
President appointed William G. McAdoo, who was also 
the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Half a year later, the government likewise took over, 



Transportation 157 

for the duration of the war, the operation of telegraph 
and telephone lines, which were placed under the con- 
trol of the Postmaster- General. 

Shipbuilding. — Less than two weeks after the decla- 
ration of war the United States Shipping Board Emer- 
gency Fleet Corporation was organized with a capital 
of fifty million dollars all owned by the government. 
The Shipping Board had been formed some time before 
to increase the merchant shipping of the country. 
When war came, more and yet more ships were needed, 
not only to take our armies, and their food and fighting 
material, to Europe, but also to replace the shipping 
destroyed by submarines. In order that these ships 
might be built as speedily as possible it was desirable 
that the government should direct the work. Exist- 
ing shipyards were taken over, and new shipyards were 
built by the government. In the building of ships the 
original program was more than doubled, and the United 
States became the greatest shipbuilding nation of the 
world. This was made possible largely through the 
construction of what are known as "fabricated ships"; 
that is, many ships built exactly alike, from parts made 
in quantities. Patterns are made for each special piece 
of steel and sent to steel plants in different parts of the 
country. There dozens of pieces are made exactly like 
the pattern. All the pieces for a ship are sent to the 
shipyard ready to be riveted in their proper places. 
Thus the shipyard can work much faster than if the 
pieces were prepared at the yard. 



158 The United States in the War 

German Shipping Seized. — Immediately upon the 
declaration of war, the President ordered the seizure of 
ninety-nine German merchant ships which were in our 
ports. Most of them had been in harbor since August, 
1914. They had been free to sail if they wished, but 
preferred not to risk capture by British or French 
warships. 

When the United States officials took charge of these 
vessels, it was found that important parts of their 
machinery had been destroyed or broken, under orders 
from Germany. Repairs were quickly and skillfully 
made, the German names of the ships were changed, 
and a few months later over six hundred thousand tons 
of German-built ships were taking American troops and 
supplies across the seas. 

Paying for the War. — Wars nowadays cost enor- 
mous sums of money, on account of the highly technical 
material that is used as well as the great size of the 
armies. There are two ways by which the money can 
be raised. The government can borrow money, and it 
can raise money by taxation. It was found wise to pay 
for the war by depending on both of these methods. 

In May and June our people were called upon to sub- 
scribe to an issue of two billion dollars' worth of Liberty 
bonds. Half as*much more was offered to the govern- 
ment. A second loan for three billions in November 
was again oversubscribed by fifty per cent. In 191 8 the 
third loan for three billion, and the fourth loan, for six 
billion, were also oversubscribed. Up to November, 



Paying for the War 159 

1918, the government asked for fourteen billion dollars, 
the people offered to lend about eighteen billion dol- 
lars, and the government accepted about sixteen billion 
dollars. 

In addition to the above, the Treasury department 
authorized the sale of two billion dollars' worth of War 
Savings Stamps during the year 1918. These stamps 
represent short-time loans to the government which 
are so small that practically every person is able to 
invest in them. 

It was deemed important also that the people should 
pay a large percentage of the war bill through taxes. 
Congress therefore passed a tax bill which not only 
increased the income taxes to be paid by individuals 
and companies, but also placed heavy taxes on many 
things which were more or less in the nature of luxuries, 
or at least were not essential to life. Railroad tickets, 
admission tickets to amusements of all sorts, telephone 
and telegraph messages, and hundreds of other things 
above a certain low minimum cost were taxed. In 
this way the government raised six or seven billion 
dollars in a single year, approximately one third of the 
current cost of the war. 

Loans to the Allies. — Our government from time 
to time advanced much money to the other nations 
who were fighting Germany. Practically all of these 
loans were in the form of credits with which the Allies 
paid for materials bought in the United States. Little 
if any of the money so loaned went out of the country. 



160 The United States in the War 

Red Cross and Other Organizations. — The Ameri- 
can Red Cross Society, formed for the relief of suffer- 
ing through war or other disaster, was made ready for 
extensive work by the subscription of one hundred and 
fifty million dollars in June, 191 7, by the people of the 
country. The work was organized on a national basis 
and in every community there was formed a Red Cross 
Chapter to make garments, sweaters, or woolen head 
coverings to keep the soldiers warm; to roll bandages; 
to open canteens or refreshment stations for soldiers 
while traveling or in camp; to train nurses to care for 
the sick and wounded; and to do other such work. 

Other organizations such as the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish 
Welfare Board, and the Salvation Army took upon 
themselves the task of entertaining and making com- 
fortable our soldiers and sailors, providing refreshments 
and places where they could read, write letters, play 
games and otherwise relieve their minds from the 
terrible strain of war. 

If our army and navy that were fighting for us in 
Europe represent the strength of our country, we can 
also say that the work of the Red Cross and these other 
organizations represents the heart of our country. 

The Work of Schools in the War. — School pupils 
are the largest and best-organized group of the popu- 
lation of the country. It was natural, therefore, for 
the government to turn to the school children when it 
wanted a national response. Boys and girls having the 



Work of Schools and Other Organizations 161 

lessons of the war impressed upon them in school, carry 
the message home. Often in no other way can the 
parents be reached. 

There are many ways in which the school children 
gave direct and valuable help to the nation. It is not 
possible to do more than merely hint at some of these. 

The importance of saving and thrift was early im- 
pressed on the children, not only through the thrift 
stamp and Liberty loan campaigns, but also through 
direct lessons on conserving food, clothing, and public 
and private property. 

Many children planted and took care of war gardens, 
adding a total of many million dollars' worth of food 
to the nation's supply. In connection with the gardens, 
a canning campaign was conducted which aimed at the 
conservation of perishable food that could not be con- 
sumed at once. 

The schools rendered valuable service in doing Red 
Cross work. Both boys and girls knit garments and 
comforts for our soldiers, and the girls made garments 
for the little children of France and Belgium who had 
been driven from their homes by the war. 

Rise in Prices. — When a country is at war the gov- 
ernment must have what it needs, quickly and at any 
price. The price situation is made worse if for any 
reason there happens to be a scarcity of a given article. 
When the government wants a great quantity of am- 
munition for which it is willing to pay a high price, the 
manufacturer, desiring to obtain an increased number 



1 62 The United States in the War 

of workmen quickly, offers unusually high pay. This 
attracts workmen from other industries, and the latter 
offer still higher pay to retain their workmen. In this 
way, wages rapidly go up and things that have to be 
produced with labor, like coal, or houses, or ships, rise 
enormously in cost. The farmer, too, has to pay more 
for his help. In order to induce the farmers to plant 
more wheat, the government fixed a high price for it. 
This helped to make flour expensive. Many fisher- 
men went into the navy, or into factories where they 
could get high wages. If they kept on fishing, they 
thought they ought to make as much money as the 
men who had given up fishing and gone to make guns 
and build ships. 

Perhaps the biggest reason for high prices was the 
actual scarcity of many things. Many of the men who 
had done the work of producing were at war. And they 
were using food and clothing much faster than before. 
A soldier needs about twice as much food, and wears 
out eight times as many pairs of shoes, as a man at 
home. From these facts it is easy to see why prices were 
high during the war. 

Our Achievements in 1917. — As a result of our 
unwillingness, before 191 7, to face the fact that we 
might sometime be involved in war, the tremendous 
amount of preparation described in this chapter had 
to be done in a few months, or even in a few weeks. 
When things have to be done in such a great hurry, 
missteps are often made and unfortunate delays result. 



Soldiers Sent to France 163 

In spite of all difficulties, however, the United States 
had, at the end of 191 7, two hundred and fifty thousand 
troops in France and a million and a half in training 
camps. Guns, rifles, clothing, shoes, food, and other 
necessary supplies were being produced in sufficient 
quantities. On the other side of the Atlantic, our 
engineers and railroad men were busy constructing 
docks, warehouses, and miles of railroad for the purpose 
of providing bases of supplies for our soldiers in France. 
Much of the equipment of these railroads and docks — ■ 
cars, locomotives, and unloading machinery — had been 
brought from America. 

More Soldiers Sent to France. — As the troops in the 
various camps and cantonments were trained they were 
sent to ports on the eastern coast and embarked for 
France, their places in camp being taken by new groups 
of drafted men. Beginning with fifty or sixty thousand 
each month, the number sent abroad was rapidly in- 
creased until by the fall of 19 18 the troops were going 
over at the rate of more than three hundred thousand 
a month. By November 11 there were over two mil- 
lion of our soldiers in France and another million and 
more under training in this country. 

Decrease in Submarine Sinkings. — The Germans 
had boasted in vain that their submarines would pre- 
vent the transportation of American troops to Europe. 
Of the hundreds of transports engaged in this work, up 
to November, 1918, only two were sunk while on the 
eastward voyage, and less than 300 American soldiers 



164 The United States in the War 

were drowned. Moreover, during the year 1918 there 
was a notable decrease in the destruction of merchant 
vessels by submarines. This was due probably to a 
variety of causes, but especially to the increased pro- 
tection provided by the convoy system, and to the more 
efficient methods of fighting the submarines. 

It has been found that it is possible to see a submarine 
at some distance below the surface if the observer is in 
a balloon or an airplane. Therefore the submarine 
hunters did not need to wait for the submarine to show 
itself. The sea was patrolled by balloons and airplanes 
in conjunction with fast destroyers. When the air- 
craft had located a submarine, the fact was signaled to a 
destroyer. When the destroyer arrived over the sub- 
marine, it dropped a depth bomb, which is a large bomb 
arranged to explode after it has sunk to any desired 
depth in the water. 

By this time the submarines were being destroyed 
faster than Germany could build them, and also it was 
increasingly difficult for Germany to obtain the highly 
trained crews necessary to manage the complex ma- 
chinery of a submarine. For it must be remembered 
that the circumstances under which submarines were 
destroyed almost always involved the loss of the crew. 

Submarines Raid the Atlantic Coast. — Unable to 
face the convoys of transports, several submarines paid 
visits to our coast in the summer of 191 8, and destroyed 
a considerable number of unarmed vessels, mostly 
small craft. Many of the victims, indeed, were very 



German Propaganda 165 

small fishing boats, which are, by international agree- 
ment, exempt from capture or destruction. 

German Propaganda. — Only a small part of the 
people in the United States were in sympathy with the 
Central Powers. While the United States was neutral, 
their attitude was perfectly legal, provided their sym- 
pathies did not lead them to commit crimes against the 
United States in their zeal to hinder the cause of the 
Allies. Unfortunately, when we entered the war some 
of these people, still keeping on the side of Germany, 
endeavored in every way to prevent the success of the 
American cause. They organized plots either to destroy 
property, or to spread rumors intended to interfere with 
the prosecution of the war and to undermine confidence 
in the government. 

Munition factories were blown up, and informa- 
tion was secretly sent to German authorities concern- 
ing the movements of ships so that they could be 
attacked by submarines. Worse than all else, per- 
haps, was the circulation of groundless rumors such as 
those stating that the soldiers had insufficient food 
or clothing, or insinuating that officers of the govern- 
ment were guilty of outrageous offenses in their treat- 
ment of men and women who entered war service. 

How the Government Controlled Propaganda. — Our 
country sought to control this treasonable work in 
three ways. First, all who were subjects of any enemy 
country, and who were above fourteen years of age, 
had to enroll, and carry a certificate with them wherever 



1 66 The United States in the War 

they went. They were forbidden to live within a half 
mile of navy yards, arsenals, or other places where war 
work was going on, or to go within three hundred feet 
of any wharf or dock. Secondly, those whose conduct 
was suspicious, or who displayed active sympathy with 
the enemy in speech or act, as well as certain persons 
who were in official relationship with Germany, were 
interned for the duration of the war. In the third 
place, German sympathizers who committed or at- 
tempted to commit crimes interfering with the conduct 
of the war were sent to prison for long terms. 

Suggestions for Study. — i. Define cantonment; camp; bar- 
racks; army post; internment. Describe the insignia of differ- 
ent grades of officers in the army and in the navy. Find some fact, 
about General Pershing; about Admiral Sims. 2. On a map of 
the United States locate the chief camps and cantonments; the 
chief shipbuilding centers. 3. Make a collection of Food Saving 
notices and of literature and posters about Liberty Loans and 
War Savings Stamps. Make copies of interesting letters from the 
front. 4. Collect pictures of shipbuilding and of transporting 
food to Europe. 5. How did the draft put a man into the army? 
6. What factories near your home have done war work? 7. In 
what ways can a boy or girl save food? 8. Name five things on 
which you have to pay a war tax. 9. Why were some alien ene- 
mies put into prison or into detention camps? 

References. — National Service Handbook (C. P. I.); Presi- 
dent's Flag Day Address with Evidence of Germany's Plans (C. P. I) ; 
Pamphlets from National Food Administrator; Pamphlets from 
National Fuel Administrator; American Red Cross, Teachers 
Manual; German Plots and Intrigues (C. P. I.); Conquest and 
Kultur (C. P. I.); the World Almanac. 



CHAPTER XIV 

RESULTS OF THE WAR 

The armistices of September to November, 1918 
(pages 148, 149, 151) , put an end to hostilities, but did not 
end the war. Formal treaties, to provide for a lasting 
peace, cannot be made in haste. The armistices were 
so framed as to insure the complete military victory 
of the Allies without further bloodshed; they contained 
many concessions by the Central Powers, but few 
or none by the Allies, save only the cessation of fighting. 

The Armistice with Germany. — The armistice of 
November 11 was for thirty days only, but was ex- 
tended from time to time. Under it, Germany withdrew 
her troops from invaded countries — Belgium, France, 
Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg; also from all of Germany 
west of the Rhine, and from certain important areas 
east of that river. No devastation or injuries were to 
be committed by the retiring troops. The upkeep of 
Allied and American armies of occupation in the Rhine 
land was to be paid by the German government. Ger- 
many was to release all Allied and American prisoners 
of war and civilians. She surrendered immense amounts 
of cannon, machine guns, ammunition, railway locomo- 
tives and cars, airplanes, and other property; all her 
submarines and the best of her other war ships; 'Allied, 
American, and Russian ships in her hands. She also 
agreed to withdraw her troops from Austria-Hungary, 

167 



1 68 Results of the War 

Roumania, Turkey, and the lands that were Russian 
before the war. She renounced the recent treaties with 
Russia and Roumania (pages 137, 138). The Baltic 
Sea was opened to Allied and American commerce; 
but the blockade of Germany continued. 

Peace Problems. — There are two kinds of problems 
which must be solved by the American people before 
permanent peace conditions can be established. One 
group of problems, which we may call national, relates 
primarily to the restoration of our people and industries 
to a peace condition. The other group of problems is 
composed of international questions, largely pertaining 
to the European states, but in which the United States 
is vitally interested. 

I. National Problems 

Getting the Men Home. — Even while engaged in 
the task of getting every available man to the fighting 
line in Europe, the American authorities found time to 
think of the return movement. It was a great under- 
taking, requiring many months, to see that each man 
should reach American shores and after his discharge 
be safely sent to his home town. 

The Care of the Wounded. — During the war many 
brave soldiers sacrificed an eye or a limb, or received 
wounds which will prevent their engaging in their 
previous occupations. It is the high duty of the nation 
to save such men from a life of pain or of enforced 
idleness. The wounded man, crippled for life in his 



National Problems 169 

nation's service, will be educated in a vocation which 
will occupy his mind, make him independent, and 
render him a respected and self-respecting member of his 
community. This great educational work has already 
been started, courses of study have been put into 
operation, and positions in various industrial plants 
have been guaranteed to the men after the training is 
completed. The nation will perform its whole duty to 
its heroes. 

The Reconstruction of Industry. — The war called 
into existence great plants for the manufacture of the 
specialties needed in warfare. Such factories must 
be made over and set to creating goods useful in times 
of peace. Machinery must be reconstructed, agencies 
for the sale of goods must be established, and foreign 
markets sought for the enlarged production. 

The Reorganization of Labor. — American working 
people, whether they were managers of plants or work- 
men at the machine, were wonderfully loyal to the 
nation during the war. They shifted their work, their 
homes, and their aspirations to meet the needs of the 
war. Now this talent and skill must be turned into 
other channels. This we hope can be accomplished 
without unemployment on a large scale, and without 
any loss of time or pay. But it will require great direct- 
ing ability, and a friendly attitude of employees and 
employers toward each other. 

Financial Reconstruction. — The finances of the gov- 
ernment, of corporations, and of business men were 



170 Results of the War 

greatly changed during the course of the war. There 
may never be a complete return to the old conditions. 
But it is certain that peace will create problems of 
finance almost as serious as those of war. 

Legislative Changes. — Our legislative bodies, par- 
ticularly the Congress, will be called upon to pass many 
laws to aid the country to resume its peaceful life and 
occupations. All of the problems mentioned here, as 
well as many others, will require the enactment of new 
laws. We shall need congressmen and state legislators 
of wisdom, patriotism, and special knowledge to act 
intelligently for the people on these problems. The 
international settlements mentioned below also will 
require the action of the Senate upon treaties, and the 
action of both houses where laws are necessary to carry 
out our international agreements. The war called 
for statesmanship of the highest order; peace will make 
equal demands upon the wisdom and self-control of 
our statesmen and politicians. 

II. International Problems 

"The Fourteen Points." — President Wilson, on Janu- 
ary 8, 1918, addressed Congress in a speech which was 
designed to set forth the war aims and peace terms of the 
United States. In this famous " fourteen-point speech" 
the President advocated: 

(1) Open, frank, and public diplomacy; (2) freedom 
of navigation of the seas; (3) equality of trade conditions 
among nations; (4) reduction of national armaments; 



International Problems 171 

(5) a free and impartial settlement of colonial claims; 

(6) that Russia have an opportunity for the independ- 
ent determination of her own government and policy; 

(7) that Belgium be evacuated and restored; (8) that 
French territory be freed and restored, and Alsace- 
Lorraine be returned to France; (9) that Italy's bound- 
aries be readjusted to include territories inhabited by 
Italians; (10) that the peoples of Austria-Hungary 
be given the freest opportunity of self-government; 

(11) that Roumania, Serbia, and Montenegro be evacu- 
ated and restored, Serbia given access to the sea, and the 
independence of the several Balkan states guaranteed; 

(12) that nationalities under Turkish rule be given self- 
government, and the Dardanelles placed under inter- 
national control; (13) that an independent Polish state 
be erected and given access to the sea; (14) that a 
general association of nations should be formed for 
mutual protection. 

These fourteen items were accepted with modifications 
by the Allied nations and were the basis for many of 
the provisions of the treaties of peace. 

The Peace Conference. — At Paris, on January 18, 
19 19, there gathered delegates from twenty-seven Allied 
and Associated countries, representing nearly nine-tenths 
of the population of the globe. They came not as 
monarchs and professional diplomats, such as had 
convened in Westphalia in 1648, at Utrecht in 17 13, 
and at Vienna in 1814-1815, but as the chosen spokes- 
men of the people of their several countries. 



172 Results of the War 

Prominent among the delegates were the representa- 
tives from the United States, Great Britain, France, 
Italy, and Japan, whose delegations were headed re- 
spectively by President Wilson, Prime Minister Lloyd 
George, Premier Clemenceau, Premier Orlando, and 
Viscount Chinda. These five men, and in many cases 
the first three, made the final decisions upon the peace 
terms. Cooperating with the principal delegates of 
the several states were over a thousand experts upon 
geography, commerce, race conditions, history, inter- 
national law, labor conditions, and other technical 
matters. The peace conference conducted its pre- 
liminary work through a series of commissions upon 
such topics as the responsibility for the war, the League 
of Nations, reparations to be paid by the enemy, labor 
questions, etc. The commissions reported to the full 
Conference and thus the separate parts of the treaty 
with Germany were adopted and put together. 

The Treaty Presented. — After working for five 
months, the Conference called in the German delegates 
and on May 7, 1919, the ceremony of presenting the 
treaty to the Germans took place at Versailles. It was 
here that in 187 1 France had been compelled by 
Germany to accept an ignominious peace. Now, forty- 
eight years after its first great victory, the German 
military machine was wrecked, the Hohenzollern mon- 
archy was destroyed, and the German Empire a thing 
of the past. The time limit given the Germans was 
slightly extended, and a few unimportant changes in 



Treaty with Germany 173 

the treaty were made upon their suggestion. Then, 
on June 16, the treaty was again given to them for 
presentation to the German government. The choice 
was between acceptance of the treaty or a resumption 
of war. It was accepted, and on June 28, 1919, the 
German delegates at Versailles, together with the repre- 
sentatives of all the Allied and Associated governments, 
except China, signed the treaty. It was written in 
English and in French on opposite pages, and contained 
about 80,000 words. 

Terms of the Treaty. — The treaty includes a great 
number of topics, of which the following are especially 
important: the League of Nations; territory ceded by 
Germany; new states recognized; German colonies; 
restriction of German military force; penalties; repa- 
ration for damage done by Germany; financial and 
commercial provisions; international labor organization: 
control of western Germany as a guarantee for the 
enforcement of the treaty. 

The League of Nations. — Nearly all the independent 
countries and great self-governing colonies of the world 
(excepting Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Tur- 
key, Mexico, and Russia) were invited to accept mem- 
bership in the League of Nations; later on, any state 
may be admitted by two-thirds vote of the Assembly 
of the League. A state may withdraw upon giving two 
years' notice if all its international obligations have 
been fulfilled. The permanent secretarial office of the 
League is to be located at Geneva in Switzerland. The 



174 Results of the War 

Assembly of the League, which is to meet at regular 
intervals, is composed of representatives of the members, 
each member state having one vote, but being allowed 
as many as three delegates. To carry on the work of 
the League a Council of nine members is provided for; 
this is composed of one delegate each from the United 
States, British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, and four 
other states selected by the Assembly. The Council is 
to meet at least once a year. In most cases the deci- 
sions of either the Assembly or the Council can be made 
only upon a unanimous vote of the members present. 

Through its Council and Assembly and subordinate 
appointees, the League will have many duties to perform 
under the treaty. It will appoint commissioners to 
carry out certain terms; it will work out in detail the 
so-called " mandatory system" by which the German 
colonies and other regions are to be governed; and it 
will be called upon to decide economic and financial 
problems arising under the treaty. The Council of the 
League will formulate plans for disarmament; it will 
hear and decide disputes, and provide for the arbitra- 
tion of international differences. The members of the 
League agree that no treaty in the future shall be 
binding unless published and recorded with the 
secretary of the League; and they promise to resist 
unwarranted aggression against any member of the 
League. The League will have charge of international 
measures for the improvement of conditions of labor, 
and for controlling trade in arms and ammunition. 



Treaty with Germany 



J 75 



SCALE OF MILES VD 




R T H M "4k4?^f r ' 

3 CKiel*----- -ih 



S E 

HELGOLAND 







CESSIONS OF TERRITORY 
BY GERMANY 

rm To France llllll To Lithuania? 
*i ggg To Belgium r—-n Controlled by League 

'2Mtbe j , I To Poland Cessions to Denmark 

J£~~ ^|To Ciecho- £2j and Poland to be 
Slovakia decided bj plebiscites 



Territory Surrendered by Germany. — By the terms 
of the treaty, Germany cedes small areas to Belgium, 
and to France she restores Alsace-Lorraine, a territory 
somewhat larger than Connecticut. Poland receives 
from Germany lands having twice the area of Massa- 
chusetts. In certain regions on the Polish and Danish 
frontiers a vote of the people will be taken to determine 
whether they shall stay in the German state or join the 
neighboring state. The Sarre Basin and Danzig are 
placed under the control of the League of Nations. 
In the aggregate Germany may lose almost all of her 
ill-gotten territories gained during the past 150 years, 
making a total area about the size of Indiana. 



176 Results of the War 

New States Recognized. — Germany recognizes the 
independence of Czechoslovakia, of Poland, and of 
German Austria. She agrees to accept all treaties 
made by the Allied and Associated powers with any 
state formed within the former boundaries of the Rus- 
sian Empire. The city of Danzig, which, by its position 
at the mouth of the Vistula River, controls the trade 
of Poland, is recognized as a "free city"; its affairs 
are to be arranged by a high commissioner appointed 
by the League of Nations, acting with the people of the 
city; and special care is taken that Poland shall have 
rights in the harbor, shall control the Vistula navigation, 
and also direct through traffic by rail, telephone, and 
telegraph between Poland and Danzig. 

The coal mines in the Sarre Basin, adjacent to Lor- 
raine, are given to France as compensation for the 
destruction of coal mines in northern France by the 
Germans. The private owners of the mines are to be 
paid by Germany for their rights. This Sarre region 
is to be governed by a commission of five men chosen 
by the Council of the League of Nations, but the in- 
habitants are not to be deprived of local self-government, 
nor of their religious liberties, their schools or language. 
At the end of fifteen years the inhabitants are to be 
given the opportunity of voting whether they will 
continue under control of the League, or be united to 
France, or be united to Germany. 

German Colonies. — Outside Europe, Germany re- 
nounces all rights and privileges concerning her former 



Treaty with Germany 177 

colonies, and agrees to accept whatever disposition is 
made of them by the Allies. She gives up also the special 
concessions she enjoyed in China, Siam, Liberia, and 
Morocco. She cedes to Japan her rights in Shantung 
in China; she recognizes England's protectorate over 
Egypt; and agrees to accept any arrangements made 
by the Allies respecting Turkey and Bulgaria. 

German Militarism Destroyed. — The treaty con- 
tains many provisions designed to destroy the military 
power of Germany and to prevent the reestablishment 
of militarism. All fortifications on the island of Helgo- 
land, those west of the Rhine, and those in a thirty-mile 
zone on the east bank of the Rhine, must be destroyed. 
The German army is limited to one hundred thousand 
men, made up by voluntary enlistments for long terms. 
A strict limit is set upon the amount of arms and muni- 
tions of war which Germany may retain or may manu- 
facture; and no war materials may be imported into 
or exported from Germany. 

The German navy is to be reduced to the same in- 
nocuous proportions as the army. Neither the army 
nor the navy may include any airplanes or airships in 
its equipment. 

Penalties. — "The Allied and Associated Powers pub- 
licly arraign William II of Hohenzollern, formerly 
German Emperor, for a supreme offense against inter- 
national morality and the sanctity of treaties." In 
these words the responsibility for the war is placed 
upon the former Kaiser. A request for his surrender 



178 Results of the War 

by Holland is to be made, and a special tribunal is to 
be set up, with power to determine his guilt or in- 
nocence, and to fix the punishment it deems fitting. 
Germany also agrees to surrender for trial and punish- 
ment persons accused of acts in violation of the laws 
and customs of war. 

Reparation for Damages. — "The Allied and Asso- 
ciated governments affirm and Germany accepts the 
responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all 
the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated 
governments and their nationals have been subjected 
as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the 
aggression of Germany and her allies." It is recog- 
nized that the resources of Germany are not sufficient 
to make complete reparation for all losses and damages, 
but Germany will be required to make compensation 
for damage to civilians and civilian property, including 
acts of cruelty and maltreatment, forced labor, damage 
and destruction of property, losses caused by fines or 
levies imposed by Germany, and expenditures for pen- 
sions and family allowances of the soldiers of the 
Allied armies. 

A commission composed of one representative each 
from the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, 
and Belgium (and in certain cases one from Serbia or 
Japan, instead of Belgium), will have authority to fix 
the total amount of reparation required from Germany, 
and to decide many details as to how and when the 
payments shall be made. Germany agrees to accept the 



Treaty with Germany 179 

decisions of the commission. In part payment Ger- 
many agrees to pay 20,000,000,000 marks in two years 
and give bonds for the payment of 100,000,000,000 
marks within a period of time to be fixed in part by 
the reparation commission. Further, Germany agrees 
to replace ton for ton all merchant vessels and fishing 
boats lost or damaged owing to the war. 

Labor Conditions throughout the World. — The mem- 
bers of the League of Nations are to establish an or- 
ganization to promote the international adjustment 
of labor conditions. A permanent international labor 
office is to be established at Geneva, and an inter- 
national labor conference is to be held each year, — 
the first meeting to take place at Washington in October, 
191 9. The treaty recognizes certain principles respect- 
ing the physical and moral well-being of industrial wage- 
earners, among which are: that labor should not be 
considered an article of commerce; that both employers 
and employees have the right to associate for lawful 
purposes; that wages should be sufficient to maintain 
a reasonable standard of life; the adoption of an eight- 
hour work day ; one day of rest each week ; the abolition 
of child labor; equal pay for equal work for men and 
women; and a system of inspection of factories. 

Ratification of the Treaty. — The treaty above de- 
scribed (pages 173-179) was not to come into force 
until ratified by Germany and by three of the five 
principal powers, — United States, British Empire, 
France, Italy, and Japan. With this exception, it was 



180 Results of the War 

to come into force for each country when that country 
ratified it. Methods of ratification vary in different 
countries; in the United States a two-thirds vote of 
the Senate is required. 

World Reorganization. — While the treaty with Ger- 
many is the most important single document respecting 
the close of the war, yet it will be supplemented by 
treaties still (July, 191 9) under negotiation, concerning 
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Many prob- 
lems of eastern Europe and western Asia cannot be 
settled until these documents are completed and ac- 
cepted, and until peace and order are restored in Russia. 

We are entering upon a new era, in which not only 
the old map of the world has been greatly changed, and 
old dynasties and systems have been overthrown, 
but also there is a new attitude toward many of the 
problems of life. All American citizens should consider 
these questions carefully and without prejudice. 

Suggestions for Study. — 1 . What is meant by rehabilitation 
of the wounded? Find some ways in which other nations have 
made their maimed soldiers self-supporting. 2. In what ways 
could Serbia be given access to the sea? 3. How is it likely that 
Constantinople will be controlled hereafter? 4. Why is it im- 
portant that the soldiers in the German army should be required 
to enlist for long terms? 

References. — Text of the Armistice and the treaty with Ger- 
many; McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of the War; 
War, Labor, and Peace (C. P. I.); American Interest in Popular 
Government Abroad (C. P. I.) 



CHRONOLOGY — PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF 
THE WAR 

(Adapted from " War Cyclopedia " published by the Committee on Public, 
Information, Washington, D. C. Events which especially concern the United 
States are put in italic type.) 

I914 

Murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Serajevo. 

Conference at Potsdam (page 70) . 

Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia. 

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. 

German ultimatums to Russia and France. 

Germany declares war on Russia and invades Luxemburg. 

German ultimatum to Belgium, demanding a free passage for her 
troops across Belgium. 

Germany declares war on France. 

Most of Belgium overrun: Liege occupied (Aug. 9); Brussels 
(Aug. 20); Namur (Aug. 24). 

Great Britain declares war on Germany. 

President Wilson proclaims neutrality of United States. 

Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. 

France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary 

British expeditionary force landed in France. 

Russia invades East Prussia. 

Battle of Mons-Charleroi. Dogged retreat of French and British 
in the face of the German invasion. 

Japan declares war on Germany. 

Tsingtau (Kiaochow) bombarded by Japanese. 
:c. 15 Russians overrun Galicia. Lemberg taken (Sept. 2) ; Przem- 
ysl besieged (Sept. 16 to Oct. 15, and again after Nov. 12). 
Dec. 4, Russians 3^ miles from Cracow. 

Germans destroy Lou vain, in Belgium. 

Allies conquer Togo, in Africa. 

Russians defeated in battle of Tannenberg (page 85) . 

British naval victory of Helgoland Bight, in North Sea. 

Name of St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd. 

Great Britain, France, and Russia agree not to make peace sepa- 
rately. 

181 



June 


28 


July 


5 


July 


23 


July 


28 


July 


31 


Aug. 


1 


Aug. 


2 


Aug. 


3 


Aug. 


4-26 


Aug. 


4 


Aug. 


4 


Aug. 


6 


Aug. 


12 


Aug. 


16 


Aug. 


18 


Aug. 


21-23 


Aug. 


23 


Aug. 


23 


Aug. 


25-D 


Aug. 


26 


Aug. 


26 


Aug. 


26-31 


Aug. 


28 


Aug. 


3i 


Sept. 


5 



1 82 Principal Events of the War 

Sept. 6-10 First battle of the Marne (page 81). 

Sept. 7 Germans take Maubeuge, in northern France. 

Sept. n Australians take German New Guinea, etc. 

Sept. 12-17 Battle of the Aisne. 

Sept. 16 Russians driven from East Prussia. 

Sept. 22 Three British armored cruisers sunk by a submarine. 

Sept. 27 Invasion of German Southwest Africa by Gen. Botha. 

Oct. 9 Germans occupy Antwerp, the chief port of Belgium. 

Oct. 16-28 Battle of the Yser, in Flanders, Belgium. Belgians and French 

halt German advance. 
Oct. 17-Nov. 15 Battle of Flanders, near Ypres, saving Channel ports. 
Oct. 21-28 German armies driven back in Poland. 
Oct. 28-Dec. 8 De Wet's rebellion in British South Africa. 
Oct. 29 Turkish war ship bombards Odessa, Russia. 

Nov. 1 German naval victory off the coast of Chile. 

Nov. 3-5 Russia, France, and Great Britain declare war on Turkey. 
Nov. 7 Fall of Tsingtau (Kiaochow) to the Japanese and British. 

Nov. 10-Dec. 14 Austrian invasion of Serbia (page 87). 
Nov. 10 German cruiser "Emden" destroyed in Indian Ocean. 
Nov. 21 Basra, on Persian Gulf, occupied by British. 

Dec. 8 British naval victory off the Falkland Islands. 

Dec. 16 German warships bombard towns on east coast of England. 

Dec. 17 Egypt proclaimed a British protectorate, under a sultan. 

Dec. 24 First German air raid on England. 



i9!5 

Jan. 1 -Feb. 15 Russians attempt to cross the Carpathians. 

Jan. 24 British naval victory of Dogger Bank, in North Sea. 

Jan. 25-Feb. 12 Russians again invade East Prussia, but are defeated in the 
batde of the Mazurian Lakes. 

Jan. 28 American merchantman "William P. Frye" sunk by German 

cruiser. 

Feb. 4 Germany's proclamation of "war zone" around the British Isles 

after February 18. 

Feb. 10 United States note holding German government to a "strict account- 

ability' 1 '' for destruction of American lives or vessels. 

Feb. 19 Anglo-French squadron bombards Dardanelles forts. 

Mar. 1 Announcement of British "blockade" of Germany. 

Mar. 10 British capture Neuve Chapelle, in northern France. 

Mar. 22 Russians capture Przemysl, in Galicia. 

Apr. 17-May 17 Battle of Ypres. First use of poison gas (page 95). 

Apr. 25 Allied troops land on the Gallipoli peninsula. 

Apr. 30 Germans invade the Baltic provinces of Russia. 

May i American steamship " Gul flight''' sunk by German submarine; two 

Americans lost. 



i9i5 183 



May 2 Battle of the Dunajec. Russians defeated by the Germans and 

Austrians and forced to retire from the Carpathians. 

May 7 British liner "Lusitania" sunk by German submarine (1,154 lives 

lost, 114 being Americans). 

May g-June Battle of Artois, or Festubert (in France, north of Arras). Small 
gains by the Allies. 

May 13 American note protests against submarine policy culminating in the 

sinking of the " Lusitania." Other notes June 9, July 21; German 
replies, May 28, July 8, Sept. 1. 

May 23 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. 

May 25 American steamship "Nebraskan" attacked by submarine. 

June 3 Przemysl retaken by Germans and Austrians. 

June 9 Monfalcone occupied by Italians. 

June 22 The Austro-Germans recapture Lemberg, in Galicia. 

July 2 Naval action between Russians and Germans in the Baltic. 

July 9 Conquest of German Southwest Africa completed. 

July 12-Sept. 18 German conquest of Russian Poland; capture of Warsaw 
(Aug. 5), Kovno (Aug. 17), Brest-Litovsk (Aug. 25), Vilna 
(Sept. 18). 

Aug. 19 British liner "Arabic" sunk by submarines (44 victims, two Ameri- 

cans) . 

Aug. 21 Italy declares war on Turkey. 

Sept. 1 The German ambassador, von Bernstorff, gives assurance that Ger- 

man submarines will sink no more liners without warning. 

Sept. 8 United States demands recall of Austro -Hungarian ambassador, 

Dr. Dumba. 

Sept. 25-Oct. French offensive in Champagne fails to break through Ger- 
man lines. 

Sept. 27 Small British progress at Loos, near Lens. 

Oct. 4 Russian ultimatum to Bulgaria. 

Oct. 5 Allied forces land at Salonica, at the invitation of the Greek 

government. 

Oct. 5 German Government regrets and disavows sinking of "Arabic" and 

is prepared to pay indemnities. 

Oct. 6-Dec. 2 Austro-German-Bulgarian conquest of Serbia; fall of Belgrade 
(Oct. 9), Nish (Nov. 1), Monastir (Dec. 2). 

Oct. 13 Germans execute the English nurse, Edith Cavell, for aiding 

Belgians to escape from Belgium. 

Oct. 14 Bulgaria declares war on Serbia. 

Oct. 15-19 Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy declare war against 
Bulgaria. 

Nov. 10-Apr. Russian forces advance into Persia as a result of pro-German 
activities there. 

Dec. 1 British under Gen. Townshend retreat from near Bagdad to 

Kut-el-Amara. 

Dec. 3 United Stales Government demands recall of Capt. Boy-Ed and Capl. 

von Papen, attaches of the German embassy. 



184 Principal Events of the War 

Dec. 6 Germans capture Ipek, in Montenegro. 

Dec. 15 Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Sir John French in command of the 

British army in France. 
Dec. 19 British forces withdraw from parts of Gallipoli peninsula. 

1916 

Jan. 8 Evacuation of Gallipoli completed. 

Jan. 13 Fall of Cetinje, capital of Montenegro. 

Feb. 10 Germany notifies neutral powers that armed merchant ships will 

be treated as warships and will be sunk without warning. 

Feb. 15 Secretary Lansing states that by international law commercial vessels 

have right to carry arms in self-defense. 

Feb. 16 Germany sends note acknowledging her liability in the " Lusitania" 

affair. 

Feb. 16 Russians take Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia. 

Feb. 16 Kamerun (Africa) conquered. 

Feb. 21-July Battle of Verdun (pages 107-108). 

Feb. 24 President Wilson in letter to Senator Stone refuses to advise Ameri- 

can citizens not to travel on armed merchant ships. 

Mar. 8 Germany declares war on Portugal. 

Mar. 24 French steamer "Sussex" is torpedoed without warning (page 
US)- 

Apr. 18 Russians capture Trebizond, in Turkey. 

Apr. 18 United States note declaring that she will sever diplomatic relations 

unless Germany abandons present methods of submarine warfare. 

Apr. 24-May 1 Insurrection in Ireland. 

Apr. 29 Gen. Townshend surrenders at Kut-el-Amara. 

May 4 Germany's conditional pledge not to sink merchant ships without 

warning (page 116). 

May 1 4- June 3 Great Austrian attack on the Italians through the Trentino. 

May 19 Russians join British on the Tigris. 

May 24 Conscription bill becomes a law in Great Britain. 

May 31 Naval battle off Jutland, in North Sea. 

June 4-30 Russian offensive in Galicia and Bukowina. 

June 5 Lord Kitchener drowned. 

July i-Nov. 17 Battle of the Somme (page 108). 

July 27 Germans execute Captain Fryatt, an Englishman, for having de- 

fended his merchant ship by ramming the German submarine 
that was about to attack it. 

Aug. 9 Italians capture Gorizia. 

Aug. 27 Italy declares war on Germany. 

Aug. 27-Jan. 15 Roumania enters war on the side of the Allies, and most of 
the country is overrun. (Fall of Bucharest, Dec. 6.) 

Oct. y German submarine appears off American coast and sinks British 

passenger steamer "Stephano" (Oct. 8). 

Nov. 19 Monastir retaken by Allies (chiefly Serbians). 



igi6, 1917 185 



Jan. 


10 


Jan. 


3i 


Feb. 


3 


Feb 


24 


Feb. 


26 


Feb. 


28 


Mar 


. 11 


Mar 


. 11 



Nov. 2Q United States protests against Belgian deportations. 

Dec. 6 Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as British prime minister. 

Dec. 12 German peace offer. Refused (Dec. 30) as "empty and insincere." 

Dec. 18 President Wilson's peace note. Germany replies evasively (Dec. 

26). Entente Allies' reply (Jan. 10) demands "restorations, 

reparation, indemnities." 

I917 

The Allied governments state their terms of peace. 

Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare in specified 

zones. 
United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany. 
Kut-el-Amara taken by British under Gen. Maude. 
President Wilson asks authority to arm merchant ships. 
" Zimmermann note" published. 
Bagdad captured by British under Gen. Maude. 
-15 Revolution in Russia, leading to abdication of Czar Nicholas II 
(Mar. 15). Provisional Government formed by Constitutional 
Democrats under Prince Lvov. 
Mar. 12 United States announces that an armed guard will be placed on all 

American merchant vessels sailing through the war zone. 
Mar. 17-19 Retirement of Germans to the "Hindenburg line" (page 118). 
Mar. 24 Minister Brand W hillock and American Relief Commission with- 
drawn from Belgium. 
Apr. 2 President Wilson asks Congress to declare the existence of a state of 

war with Germany. 
Apr. 6 United States declares war on Germany. 

Apr. 8 Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic relations with the United States. 

Apr. g-May 14 British successes in battle of Arras (Vimy Ridge taken Apr. 9). 
Apr. 16-May 6 French successes in battle of the Aisne between Soissons and 

Rheims. 
Apr. 21 Turkey severs relations with United States. 

May 4 A mcrican destroyers begin cooperation with British navy in war zone. 

May 15-Sept. 15 Great Italian offensive on Isonzo front. 
May 15 Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as commander in chief of the 

French armies. 
May 18 President Wilson signs selective service act. 

June 7 British blow up Messines Ridge, south of Ypres, and capture 

7,500 German prisoners. 
June 10 Italian offensive in Trentino. 

June 1 2 King Constantine of Greece forced to abdicate. 

June 26 First American troops reach France. 

June 29 Greece enters war against Germany and her allies. 

July 1 Russian army led in person by Kerensky, the Minister of War, 

begins an offensive in Galicia, ending in disastrous retreat 
(July 19-Aug. 3). 



1 86 Principal Events of the War 

July 20 Kerensky succeeds Prince Lvov as premier of Russia. 

July 30 Mutiny in German fleet at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel. Second 

mutiny Sept. 2. 

July 31-Nov. Battle of Flanders (Passchendaele Ridge); British successes. 

Aug. 15 Peace proposals of Pope Benedict published (dated Aug. 1). 

United States replies Aug. 27; Germany and Austria, Sept. 21. 

Aug. 15 Canadians capture Hill 70, dominating Lens. 

Aug. 19-24 New Italian drive on the Isonzo front. 

Aug. 20-24 French attacks at Verdun recapture high ground lost in 1916. 

Sept. 3 Riga captured by Germans. 

Sept. 8 Luxburg dispatches {"Spurlos versenkt") published by United 

States. 

Sept. 15 Russia proclaimed a republic. 

Oct. 17 Russians defeated in a naval engagement in the Gulf of Riga. 

Oct. 14-Dec. Great German-Austrian invasion of Italy. Italian line shifted to 
Piave River. 

Oct. 26 Brazil declares war on Germany. 

Nov. 2 Germans retreat from the Chemin des Dames, in France. 

Nov. 3 First clash of American with German soldiers. 

Nov. 7 Overthrow of Kerensky and Provisional Government of Russia 

by the Bolsheviki. 

Nov. 13 Clemenceau becomes French premier. 

Nov. 20-Dec. 13 Battle of Cambrai (page 119). 

Nov. 29 First plenary session of the Interallied Conference in Paris. Six- 
teen nations represented. Col. E. M. House, chairman of Ameri- 
can delegation. 

Dec. 3 Conquest of German East Africa completed. 

Dec. 6 U. S. destroyer "Jacob Jones" sunk by submarine, with loss of over 

60 American men. 

Dec. 6 Explosion on munitions vessel wrecks Halifax. 

Dec. 7 United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. 

Dec. 10 Jerusalem captured by British. 

Dec. 23 Peace negotiations opened at Brest-Litovsk between Bolshevik 

government and Central Powers. 

Dec. 28 President Wilson takes over the control of railroads. 

I918 

Jan. 4 British hospital ship "Rewa" torpedoed and sunk in English 

Channel. 
President Wilson sets forth peace program of the United States. 
Russian Constituent Assembly meets in Petrograd. 
The Bolsheviki dissolve the Russian Assembly. 
Revolution begins in Finland; fighting between "White Guards" 

and "Red Guards." 
Big German air raid on London. 
German air raid on Paris. 



Jan, 


8 


Jan. 


18 


Jan 


19 


Jan. 


28 


Jan. 


28-29 


Jan. 


30 



1918 187 



Feb. 3 American troops officially announced to be on the Lorraine front near 

Toul. 
Feb. 5 British transport "Tuscania" with 2,179 American troops on board 

torpedoed and sunk; 211 American soldiers lost. 
Feb. 9 Ukrainia makes peace with Germany. 

Feb. 10 The Bolsheviki order demobilization of the Russian army. 

Feb. 14 Bolo Pasha condemned for treason against France; executed 

April 16. 
Feb. 17 Cossack General Kaledines commits suicide. Collapse of Cossack 

revolt against the Bolsheviki. 
Feb. 18-Mar. 3 Russo-German armistice declared at an end by Germany; 

war resumed. Germans occupy Dvinsk, Minsk, and other 

cities. 
Feb. 21 German troops land in Finland. 

Feb. 23 Turkish troops drive back the Russians in the northeast (Treb- 

izond taken Feb. 26, Erzerum March 14). 
Mar. 2 German and Ukrainian troops defeat the Bolsheviki near Kief 

in Ukrainia. 
Mar. 3 Bolsheviki sign peace treaty with Germany at Brest -Litovsk. 

Ratified by Soviet Congress at Moscow March 15. 
Mar. 7 Finland and Germany sign a treaty of peace. 

Mar. 10 Announcement that American troops are occupying trenches at four 

different points on French front. 
Mar. 11 First wholly American raid, made in sector north of Toul, meets 

with success. 
Mar. 11 Great German air raid on Paris, by more than fifty planes. 

Mar. 13 German troops occupy Odessa on Black Sea. 
Mar. 21-Apr. 1 First German drive of the year, on 50-mile front, extending to 

Montdidier (page 143). 
Mar. 29 General Foch appointed to supreme command in the west. 
Apr. 9-18 Second German drive, on 30-mile front between Ypres and Arras. 
May 6 Roumania signs peace treaty with the Central Powers. 

May 7 Nicaragua declares war on Germany and her allies. 

May 9-10 British naval force attempts to block Ostend harbor. 
May 14 Caucasus proclaims itself an independent state; but the Turks 

overrun the southern part, and take Baku Sept. 19. 
May 21 British transport "Moldavia" is sunk with loss of 53 American 

soldiers. 
May 24 Major General March appointed Chief of Staff with the rank of 

General. 
May 24 Costa Rica declares war on the Central Powers. 

May 25- June German submarines appear of American coast and sink 19 coast- 
wise vessels, including Porto Rico liner "Carolina" with loss of 

16 lives. 
May 27-June 1 Third German drive, capturing the Chemin des Dames and 

reaching the Marne River east of Chateau-Thierry. American 

Marines aid French at Chateau-Thierry. 



1 88 Principal Events of the War 

May 28 American forces near Montdidier capture village of Canligny and 

hold it against numerous counter-attacks. 
May 31 U.S. transport "President Lincoln" sunk by U-boat while on her 

way to the United States; 23 lives lost. 
June 9-16 Fourth German drive, on 20-mile front east of Montdidier, makes 

only small gains. 
June 10 Italian naval forces sink one Austrian dreadnaught and damage 

another in the Adriatic. 
June 11 American Marines take Belleau Wood, with 800 prisoners. 
June 14 Turkish troops occupy Tabriz, Persia. 

June 15 General March announces that there are 800,000 American troops in 

France. 
June 15-July 6 Austrian offensive against Italy fails with heavy losses. 
June 21 Official statement that American forces hold 30 miles of French front 

in six sectors. 
June 27 British hospital ship "Llandovery Castle" is torpedoed off Irish 

coast with loss of 234 lives. Only 24 survived. 
July 10 Italians and French take Berat in Albania. 

July 13 Czecho-Slovak troops occupy Irkutsk in Siberia. 

July 15-18 Anglo-American forces occupy strategic positions on the Murman 

Coast in northwestern Russia. 
July 15-18 Fifth German drive extends three miles south of the Marne, but 

east of Rheims makes no gain. 
July 16 Ex-Czar Nicholas executed by Bolshevik authorities. 

July 18-Aug. 4 Second battle of the Marne, beginning with Foch's counter- 
offensive between Soissons and Chateau-Thierry. French and 
Americans drive the Germans back from the Marne nearly to 
the Aisne. 
Honduras declares war on Germany. 
American troops arrive on the Italian front. 
President Wilson takes over telegraph and telephone systems. 
Allies occupy Archangel, in northern Russia. 

, Allies attack successfully near Montdidier, and continue the 
drive until the Germans are back at the Hindenburg line, giv- 
ing up practically all the ground they had gained this year. 
American troops land in eastern Siberia. 
The United States recognizes the Czecho-Slovak government. 
Americans take the St. Mihiel salient near Metz. 
Allied army under Gen. D'Esperey begins campaign against 

Bulgarians. 
President Wilson receives an Austrian proposal for a peace confer- 
ence, and refuses it. 
Great victory of British and Arabs over Turks in Palestine. 
Americans begin a drive in the Meuse valley. 
Bulgaria withdraws from the war. 

St. Quentin (on the Hindenburg line) taken by the French. 
Damascus captured by the British. 



July 


22 


July 


27 


July 


3i 


Aug. 


2 


Aug. 


8-Sepl 


Aug. 


15 


Sept. 


3 


Sept. 


12-13 


Sept. 


15 


Sept. 


16 


Sept. 


, 22 


Sept. 


26 


Sept. 


30 


Oct. 


1 


Oct. 


1 



1918, 1919 J 89 

3 King Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicates. 

3 Lens taken by the British. 

4 Germany asks President Wilson for an armistice and peace negotia- 
tions (page 150); other notes Oct. 12, 20, etc.; similar notes from 
Austria-Hungary Oct. 7, and from Turkey Oct. 12. Wilson's 
replies Oct. 8, 14, 18, 23. 

Beirut taken by a French fleet. 
Cambrai taken by the British. * 

Laon taken by the French. 
Ostend taken by the Belgians. 
Lille taken by the British. 
iv. 4 Allied forces (chiefly Italians) under Gen. Diaz win a great 

victory on the Italian front. 
Aleppo taken by the British. 
Turkey surrenders. 

Serbian troops enter Belgrade after regaining nearly all of Serbia. 
Trieste and Trent occupied by Italian forces. 
Surrender of Austria-Hungary. 

President Wilson notifies Germany that General Foch has been author- 
ized by the United States and the Allies to communicate the terms 
of an armistice. 
Nov. 6 Mutiny of German sailors at Kiel; followed by mutinies, revolts, 

and revolutions at other German cities. 
Nov. 7 Americans reach Sedan. 
Nov. 9-1 1 British take Maubeuge and Mons. 

Nov. 9 Announcement that the German emperor William II " has decided 
to renounce the throne"; he flees to Holland Nov. 10 and signs 
a formal abdication Nov. 28. 
Nov. 11 Armistice signed; Germany surrenders. 
Nov. 21 German fleet delivered into British custody. 
Dec. 4 President Wilson sails for Europe to take part in peace conference. 

I919 

Jan. 18 Formal opening of the Peace Conference at Paris. 

May 7 Proposed treaty with Germany is delivered to representatives of 

Germany. 
June 28 The treaty with Germany, after some alterations, is signed at 

Versailles. 



Oct. 


7 


Oct. 


8 


Oct. 


13 


Oct. 


17 


Oct. 


17 


Oct. 


24- 


Oct. 


26 


Oct. 


31 


Nov. 


1 


Nov. 


3 


Nov. 


4 


Nov. 


5 



INDEX 



Adrianople, taken, 65. 

Africa, war in, 90-91. 

Aircraft, 104, 109, 1 19-120, 153-154- 

Aisne, battle of, 81. 

Albania, 23-24, 59-65, 148. 

Albanians, 62. 

Allenby, General, 126, 148. 

Allies, 75- „ , , . 

Alsace-Lorraine, 48-50, 13, 28; ceded to 
France, 175- 

Americans, see United States. 

Amiens, threatened, 143- 

Antwerp, location, 30; captured, 81, 104. 

Anzacs, 96. 

Arbitration, 43- 

Argentina, '' spurlos versenkl, 133- 

Armaments, 36, 41-42, 45- 

Armed neutrality, 131- 

Armenia, no. 

Australia, 22, 89. 

Austria, 12, 15-16, 176. 

Austria-Hungary, before the war, 15-17; 
Balkan ambitions, 52, 63; Triple Al- 
liance, 56-57; backs Turkey, 63, 65; 
trouble with Serbia, 68-73; precipitates 
the war, 70, 72; in the war, 84-87, 97-09, 
112-114, 122-123, 127-128, 147, 149- 

Bagdad, taken, 125. 

Balkan states, 23-24, 52-53, 59-66; 
races in, 59-62; in the war, see Serbia, 
Bulgaria, Roumania. 

Balkan Wars, 64-65. 

Baltic provinces, 30, J37- n _, , 

Battles: Marne, 81; Aisne, 81; Flanders, 
82; Tannenberg, 85; Ypres, 95; Ma- 
zurian Lakes, 97; Verdun, 107; Somme, 
108; Vimy Ridge, 118; Cambrai, 119; 
Picardy, 143; second Marne, 146; 
Piave, 147, x 49- 

Beatty, Admiral, 114- 

Belgium, before the war, 18, 30; neu- 
trality, 19, 78; in the war, 78-80, 149; 
German occupation of, 82-84; terri- 
torial gains, 175- 

Belgrade, taken, 87. 

Berlin-Bagdad Railway, 32, 125. 

Bernstorff, Count von, 128-129. 

Bessarabia, 138. 

Bismarck, 12-13- 

Boers, in the war, 90. 

Bolsheviki, 123-125, 135-140. 

Bosnia, 69. 

Bosporus, 51. 

Botha, General, 90. 

Brazil, enters the war, 133. 

Brest-Litovsk, peace of, 136-138. 



Brusilov, General, 112. 

Bukowina, invaded, 112. 

Bulgaria, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; 
Balkan wars, 64-65; in the Great War, 
97-98, 113, 147-148; surrenders, 148. 

Bulgars, 61. 

Calais, threatened, 81. 

Cambrai, battle of, 119; taken, 150. 

Canada, 22, 118, 119. 

Casement, Sir Roger, 117. 

Cavour, Count, 17-18. 

Central Powers, 65. 

Chemin des Dames, 119. 

Chile, naval battle near, 93. 

Colonies, 10; Germany's desire for, 31, 

54-55; ceded, 176. 
Constantine, King, 98. 
Constantinople, 51-52. 
Courland, 137. 
Czar, 23-24, 120-121. 
Czecho-Slovaks, 139-140. 

Damascus, taken, 148. 
Danzig, 175. 
Dardanelles, 51, 96. 
Democratic movements, 8, 121 
Der Tag, 67. 
D'Esperey, General, 147. 
Dewey, Admiral, 54. 
Diaz, General, 149. 
Dobrudja, 62, 113, 138. 
Dublin, in rebellion, 117. 
Duma, 120-121. 

East Prussia, 30; invaded, 85, 97. 
Emden, cruise of, 92-93. 
England, 21; see Great Britain. 
Erzerum, captured, in. 
Esthonia, 137. 

Falkland Is., naval battle, 93. 

Finland, 136-137. 

Flame-thrower, 95. 

Flanders, battles of, 82, 143. 

Foch, General, 143-149. 

Food and fuel control in U. S., 154-156. 

Fiance, before the war, 19-20, 13; Triple 
Entente, 57-58; enters the war, 73~74; 
in the war, 77-84, 95, 107-109, 118-120, 
141-150; territorial gains, 175. 

Francis Ferdinand, assassinated, 70. 

Francis Joseph, 16 

Franco-Prussian War, 13, 20, 28-29 

Galicia, in the war, 86, 97, 112, 122-123. 
Gallipoli campaign, 96. 
Garibaldi, 17. 



I90 



Index 



191 



Gas, used in warfare, 95, 142. 

George, Lloyd, 48, 172. 

Gerard, Ambassador, 129. 

German propaganda in U. S., 165-167. 

Germany, before the war, 12-14; why 
Germany wanted war, 27-34; German 
militarism, 34-37; opposition to peace 
movements, 39, 42-46; colonial am- 
bitions, 31, 53-56; Triple Alliance, 
56-57; backs Turkey, 63-65; prepara- 
tions for Great War, 67-68; precipitates 
the war, 70, 72-75; in the war, 77-109, 
1 13-150; treatment of occupied ter- 
ritory, 82-84; loses colonies, 89-91; 
navy, 37, 91-94, 101-103, 114-116, 
128-130, 164; blockaded, 92, 100; 
aircraft, 104-105; peace off ensive (1917, 
1918), 135-138; new tactics (1918), 
141-142; defeated, asks for peace, 149- 
150; armistice, 167; treaty, 172-179. 

Gorizia, taken, 114. 

Great Britain, before the war, 21-23; 
colonies, 11, 22, 105; danger from 
Germany, 32, 37; Triple Entente, 58; 
efforts for peace, 72-73; enters the 
war, 74-75; army in France, 79-82, 95, 
108-109, 118-119, 141-149; in Africa, 
90; navy, 91-94, 114; in Gallipoli, 
96; in Mesopotamia, 111-112, 125; 
conscription, 116; in Palestine, 125-126, 
148. 

Great War, causes, 5, 27, 34, 48, 67; 
declarations, 73; in 1914, 77; in 1915, 
95; in 1916, 107; in 1917, 118; in 1918, 
135; United States in, 130-133, 152; 
results, 167. 

Greece, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; 
Balkan wars, 64-65; in the Great War, 
98, 147- 

Greeks, 62. 

Grey, Sir Edward, 72. 

Guynemer, French airman, 119. 

Hague Conferences, 41-46. 

Hague Conventions, 45. 

Hague Peace Tribunal, 43-44. 

Helgoland Bight, battle, 92. 

Herzegovina, 69. 

Hindenburg, von, General, 85, 97. 

Hindenburg line, 118, 149. 

Holy Allies, 8, 9. 

Hungary, 15-16; see Austria-Hungary. 

Indemnity, 27, 29. 

Industrial development of Europe, 9. 

International law, 38-40, 45. 

Ireland, rebellion in, 116-117. 

Isonzo River, 114. 

Italia Irredenta, 50-51. 

Italy, before the war, 17-18, 50, 53; in 
Triple Alliance, 57; refuses to support 
Austria against Serbia, 69; neutral, 75; 
in the war, 99, 114, 127-128, 147, 149. 



Japan, in the war, 89-90, 140. 
Jerusalem, captured, 126. 
Joffre, General, 81. 
Jugo-Slavs, 61, 69-70. 
Junkers, 14, 30-31. 
Jutland, battle of, 114-115. 

Kaiser, 13, 14, 177. 

Kaiser's battle, 141. 

Kerensky, Alexander, 122-123. 

Kiaochow, 90. 

Kiel Canal, 68. 

Kitchener, Lord, prediction of, 105. 

Knights of Columbus, 160. 

Kultur, 34. 

Kut-el-Amara, 111-112, 125. 

Laon, taken, 150. 

League of Nations, 173-174. 

League of Three Emperors, 56. 

Lemberg, taken, 86, 97. 

Lenin, 123, 136. 

Lens, taken, 149. 

Liberty motor, 154. 

Liege, taken, 79. 

Lille, taken, 81, 149. 

Lithuania, 137. 

Little Russians, 136. 

Livonia, 137. 

Loans, U. S., 158. 

London, air raids, 104. 

Lorraine, 28; see Alsace-Lorraine. 

Lusitania, sunk, 102-103. 

Luxemburg, 78, 79. 

Macedonia, 61-65. 

Maps: Europe, 6; Berlin-Bagdad rail- 
way, 32; Alsace-Lorraine, 49; Italia 
Irredenta, 50; Balkan Sta.tes, 60; 
Western Front in 1914, 80; Eastern 
Front in 1914, 85; German colonies 
and early naval engagements, 88; 
Turkey, no; European Fronts in 191 7; 
124: Naval War Zones in 1917, 128; 
Brest-Litovsk Treaty, 137; Western 
Front in 1918, 145; German cessions, 
175- 

Marne, battles of the, 81, 146. 

Mazurian Lakes, battle of, 97. 

Mesopotamia, war in, in, 125. 

Militarism, 34, 177. 

Mine fields, in the sea, 91-92. 

Mittel-Europa, 64. 

Montenegro, 59, 61, 64, 98. 

Morocco question, 55. 

Munitions, ministers of, 105. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 7, 19. 
Napoleon III, 20. 

National aspirations, 9, 15, 117, 136-137. 
Nations, community of, 38-39- J 79- 
Naval operations, 91-94, 100-103, 114- 

116, 129, 152, 163-165. 
Neutral trade, 100-102. 
Nicholas II, 40, 121. 



192 



Index 



Palestine, war in, 125-126, 148. 

Pan-Germanists, 31. 

Pan-Serbism, 70-71. 

Pan-Slavic movement, 52. 

Paris, threatened, 77-81, 142, 144. 

Passchendaele Ridge, taken, 119. 

Peace, movement, 40; proposed by Ger- 
many, 13S-138, 150; with Russia and 
Roumania, 137-138, 168; final con- 
ference, etc., 171-180. 

Pershing, General, 143, 146. 

Persius, Captain, quoted, 129. 

Petain, General, 108. 

Petrograd, revolutions at, 121, 123. 

Philippines, German fleet at, 54. 

Piave River, 128, 147, 149- 

Picardy, battle of, 143. 

Poison gas, 95, 142. 

Poland, in the war, 84-86, 97, 137; inde- 
pendent, 175, 176. 

Potsdam conference, 70. 

Propaganda, 165-166. 

Prussia, 12-14, 27, 28, 35; see Germany. 

Przemysl, 86, 97. 

Red Cross, 160. 

Rheims, bombarded, 119. 

Riga, taken, 124. 

Roosevelt, President, 45, 55- 

Roumania, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; 
Balkan War, 65; in the Great War, 
112-113; peace, 138, 168. 

Roumanians, 62. 

Russia, before the war, 24-25; Balkan 
ambitions, 51-53, 63; Triple Entente, 
57-58; enters war, 73~74; hi the war, 
84-89, 97, 110-112, 122-124, 136; 
Revolution, 120-123; Bolsheviki con- 
trol, 123; separate peace, 135-138; 
Allied intervention, 138-140. 

St. Quentin, taken, 149. 

Salonica, 65; Allied army at, 98, 147- 

Samoan difficulty, 54. 

Sarre Basin, 175, 176. 

Schools, work of, 160. 

"Scrap of paper," 78. 

Serajevo, assassination at, 70. 

Serbia, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; 
Balkan wars, 64-65; trouble with 
Austria-Hungary, 69-73; in the war, 
87, 98, 147-148. 

Serbs, 61, 68-70. 

Shipbuilding in U. S., 157. 

Shock troops, 142. 

Siberia, in the war, 139-140. 

Sick man of Europe, 63. 

Sinn Fein rebellion, 116-117. 

Slavs, 52, 61. 

Smuts, General, 90. 

Socialists, in Russia, 122-123. 

Somme, battle of the, 108-109. 

South Africa, 22, 90-91. 

Spanish America, in the war, 133. 



Spurlos versenkt, 133. 

Submarine warfare, 101-103, 115-116, 

128-130, 163-165. 
Survival of the Fittest, 33. 
Sussex, torpedoed, n 5-1 16. 
Syria, war in, 148-149. 

Tanks, 109, 119, 146. 

Tannenberg, battle of, 85. 

Tirpitz, von, Admiral, 101. 

Townshend, General, 111-112. 

Transylvania, 112-113. 

Trebizond, captured, in. 

Trench warfare, 82. 

Trentino, 51, 114. 

Trieste, 16, 51, 114, 127. 

Triple Alliance, 56-57. 

Triple Entente, 57-58. 

Trotzky, 123, 136. 

Turkey, before the war, 23-24, 52, 53, 63; 
Balkan wars, 64-65; enters the war, 
87-89; in the war, 96, 110-112, 125-126, 
138, 148. 

U-boats, 101; see Submarine warfare. 

Ukrainia, 136-137. 

United States, danger from Germany, 
54-55; neutral trade, 100, 102, 131; 
protests against submarining, 103, 116, 
129; enters the war, 130-133; army in 
France, 145-147, 150, 163; in the war, 
152-167; navy, 152; raising an army, 
152-153; aircraft, 153; food control, 
154; fuel control, 155; transportation 
control, 156; shipbuilding, 157; seizes 
German ships, 158; paying for the war, 
158-159; R^d Cross, etc., 160; rise in 
prices, 161; German propaganda, 165- 
166; peace problems, 168-170. 

Venezuela, Germany in, 55. 
Venice, threatened, 128. 
Verdun, battle of, 107-108. 
Victor Emmanuel, 18. 
Vienna, conference of 1815, 7. 
Vimy Ridge, taken, 118. 

War, see Great War; war as a profitable 
business, 27. 

War Savings Stamps, 159. 

Wilson, President, Lusitania case, 103; 
Sussex case, 116; breaks with Germany, 
128-129; asks for declaration of war, 
132; fourteen-point address (Jan. 8, 
1918), 135, 170; peace notes of 1918, 
150; at peace conference, 172. 

Wounded, care of, 168. 

Young Men's Christian Association, 160. 
Ypres, battle of, 95. 
Yser River, 82. 

Zeppelins, 104. 
Zimmermann note, 130. 



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